Source: www.TurfMagazine.com
Children in this Adams, Neb., have a new place to play, thanks to a $25,000 donation from Exmark and their employees who installed colorful, new playground equipment on July 3.
The new playground fills a pressing need in the rapidly growing Freeman School District. Previously, children in a preschool program from ages 2 to 5 had to walk about two city blocks to the elementary school playground, where the equipment was rated for 5- to 12-year-olds and was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The Freeman School District purchased property closer to the preschool program, and Exmark’s $25,000 donation supplied a play structure, surface, cement path and fence. Six Exmark employees braved blistering temperatures July 3 to install the equipment, which is rated for 2- to 5-year-olds and is ADA compliant.
Each year, the Exmark Community Giving Committee donates money for projects in the communities where Exmark employees live and work. The committee’s first donation, in 2006, created Roszell-Exmark Park, and its 2011 donation of $25,000 went to the new Beatrice Athletic Complex.
Exmark wanted donations to reach beyond Beatrice city limits, too, so they looked this year to the Freeman School District. While most Exmark employees live in Beatrice, the second-highest number of employees reside in the Freeman School District.