LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The clock is ticking for volunteers raising money to rebuild the playground at Blue Lick Elementary School after vandals torched it late last year.Â
It happened in the evening hours of October 26, 2022. That's when the fixtures on the playground were damaged beyond repair by an intentional fire. Maj. Bobby Cooper with the Louisville Fire Department said two juveniles were responsible.
Both juveniles were charged with first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree wanton endangerment, but their names are not available because they are minors.Â
"Sad and mad," kindergartener Kyra Bricest said about how the fire made her feel.
Bricest and other students at Blue Lick Elementary are limited during recess because of the fire's destruction of the playground. Two small areas, which aren't big enough for all the students to use, is all that remains.
"Everybody loved that playground and everybody would play on that playground," said 4th grader Melody Kat. "A lot of people were upset about it because they didn't have a playground to play on anymore."
In previous WDRB reporting, Principal Amy Hammond told WDRB the playground was a favorite spot for many kids to play. "It's really disappointing that someone would come to an elementary school and vandalize a structure that they utilize for playing," Hammond said.
The price tag to rebuild the playground is $400,000. The school received $70,000 from an insurance claim, and added another $70,000 from its budget, for a total of $140,000. Now a group called Random Acts of Kindness is trying to raise the rest of the money needed for the rebuild.Â
"That just hit me close to home as a dad," said Jon McCallon, a volunteer helping raise the money with RAK Louisville. "For me, knowing how hard these teachers work every single day to bring hope into the classroom, not just education, this was an important project that I couldn't say no to."
McCallon felt called to use the RAK Louisville platform to lead the charge on raising the additional $200,000 needed to build a playground not just for students, but the entire Blue Lick community.
"They've got so much going on in their world, we don't even begin to understand how much an elementary student deals with on a daily basis," he said.
In between the students' efforts to sell candy bars to finance the effort, recess will continue at Blue Lick.Â
It serves as a lesson on persistence from the most unlikely of teachers in the most unlikely of classrooms.
"I was really mad about it, but now it's okay because we're going to build a new and better one," Kat said.
If you'd like to help, you can donate online at Louisville's Random Acts of Kindness website.Â
Previous Stories:
- 2 juveniles charged for fire that damaged Blue Lick Elementary playground
- Blue Lick Elementary playground set on fire overnight
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