Kiwanis Club hopes to win $25,000 park equipment grant

MORRIS – The Morris Kiwanis Club has nominated the city of Morris for a $25,000 grant for park equipment. The club hopes to bring a new piece of park equipment to Goold Park in Morris.

Kiwanis President Megan Borchers submitted the nomination, and she hopes to get as many local votes as possible in order to bring the grant to Morris.

In her nomination submission. Borchers wrote:

“Although Morris, Illinois is a vibrant community, many of our playgrounds are outdated with equipment that ages our Kiwanis Club leadership. New playground equipment would provide a fresh initiative for the city to kick off opportunities for youth, adults and seniors to get exercise, obtain fresh air and build strength both mentally and physically while safely coming together as community members.

Park equipment unites people. The goal is to help the City of Morris purchase the Stadium Obstacle Course as a start to this local, organic approach to fitness. This piece of equipment is geared toward ages 5-12, and is slightly different from the typical swing set and slides. The idea is to get people moving, climbing and making fitness fun and accessible. Let’s contribute to those natural endorphins that make people of all ages happy and healthy.

This piece of equipment would be placed in Goold Park in Morris, a beautifully shaded park that would allow for comfortable exercise through all four seasons of the Midwest. The vision includes a walking/running loop through the park to further encourage movement and exercise for all ages.”

This is a voting contest. You can vote once every 24 hours.

Here is how to vote:

• Visit play.kiwanis.org.

• Find Morris Kiwanis Club (the picture has a green tent over the playground equipment).

• Enter an email address.

• You will receive a code inside your email address from the Kiwanis Club

• Enter the code

• You voted! (This can be done every 24 hours)

The voting period is from Sept. 18 through noon on Sept. 30. The winner will be announced Oct. 13.

“The Kiwanis Club and other organizations in Morris have been working with the City of Morris to try and upgrade some of the equipment in our parks,” Borchers said. “People have been cooped up for a long time, and parks bring people together. Some new equipment in some of our city parks would be a great help.”