Stallings Special Needs Accessible Playground of Morgan County (SNAP).
The second playground area will feature an integrated ramped structure with numerous freestanding structures, including slides, climbers and ladders designed for various special needs, along with several different sound and play panels. “There are six senses of play,” says project manager Bob Francis, counting them off: sliding, spinning, swinging, climbing, social and tactile. “In the design of the entire complex, we’ve made a conscious effort to collectively address each one of these to provide accommodations for our special needs children.”
Francis says that throughout 2014 the group will focus entirely on fundraising and continuing education. “Beginning January 1 of this year, we needed a little over $210,000 to complete the playground. Now, based on donations and firm commitments, we are reasonably within $65,000 of having sufficient funds to complete SNAP. I don’t have any doubt we’re going to get there,” he says.
When the boundless playground was initially proposed, organizers estimated there were 1,700 special needs children in Morgan County. Recent information puts that number closer to 2,500.
Currently, the SNAP complex includes a swing area, playground, splashpad, pavilion and entryway. The entryway with a lighted clock tower and backlit LED logo houses the plaque dedicating the playground to John Mark Stallings, son of Coach Gene and Ann Stallings. John Mark, who had Down Syndrome, impacted and inspired thousands of people during his 46-year life.
In 2011, the SNAP Splashpad was recognized by Aquatics International Magazine as the best spray park of its category in the nation. SNAP has received countless other recognitions throughout the course of the project as other communities, both in and out of state, have asked for guidance in developing their own special needs playgrounds. SNAP is now viewed as a model for special needs playgrounds in the state of Alabama.
Over the past seven years, volunteers from the Hartselle Civitan, Kiwanis, Rotary and Lions clubs, along with the City of Hartselle, United Way, Hartselle Medical Center, Wal-Mart, the Volunteer Center of Morgan County, Hartselle Area Chamber of Commerce and the Morgan County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments have worked together to raise almost $640,000 in donations and in-kind services for SNAP, according to Francis. He pointed out that $12,702 of that figure came from Hartselle Utilities in in-kind donations for the infrastructure, as an example of the many ways the community has joined together to complete the playground. At last count, 418 individuals and organizations have donated money, products and services to the project.
“We planned six major elements for the SNAP playground,” Francis smiles. “We’ve completed five, and have one to go. After seven years, it’s time to finish the job.”
No donation is too small, Francis says, relating stories of a child donating a handful of coins, and a prisoner from Holman sending a check for $5.00.
To donate to the SNAP playground project, visit SnapPlayground.org/donate or send money to P.O. Box 512, Hartselle, AL 35640.