By Sheldon Spackman

Red Deerians make a move like Jagger for all access playground

Feb 11, 2018 | 4:05 PM

Over 150 people gathered at the Black Knight Inn Saturday night to help raise money for the completion of an all access, barrier-free playground at Mattie McCullough Elementary School in Red Deer.

The first annual Valentines Masquerade Ball was hosted by the Make a Move with Jagger Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to facilitating inclusion in our community and eliminating the financial impact that a diagnosis can bring to a family.

The event included a silent auction, live auction, live entertainment, spin the bottle, a photo booth and a dance to wrap up the formal affair.

The idea for the all access, barrier-free playground project began in 2016 when classmates of then seven year-old Jagger Anderson wanted their friend to be able to enjoy the school’s playground apparatus like they did. Anderson has been diagnosed with IP36 Deletion Syndrome, a chromosomal syndrome that creates speech and motor development delays and has him largely confined to a wheelchair.

The compassion shown by Jagger’s friends and classmates led to partnerships being formed with the Rotary Clubs of Red Deer and surrounding areas, Rotaract, the City of Red Deer, Mattie McCullough Elementary School and the Make A Move with Jagger Foundation to make the students’ vision a reality.

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It’s now a three-year, $500,000 project that saw Phase 1 open in 2017, with completion of Phase 2 planned for later this year.

Jagger’s mother Sharlee says she is thrilled with the support the community has shown for this initiative.

“It’s something I never imagined could have happened,” exclaims Anderson. “It’s almost like a story just kind of coming to life and like a fairy tale that’s just happening and it’s just really amazing.”

She says she’s also very proud of Jagger’s friends who don’t see him any differently than any other kids.

“I wish more people would think like a child,” says Anderson. “You know, because they don’t look at Jagger differently, they just compassionately see him for him and they really are just true friends.”

Anderson adds she’s now excited to keep going forward with more fundraising to complete the two-phase project.

“I know when the playground is done, we want to keep going,” explains Anderson. “We want to inspire other schools and communities to have playgrounds like this and help to break barriers in special needs family’s lives and really just help the whole central Alberta community.”

Ray Kmetiuk with Access for All Barrier-Free Playscape says roughly $425,000 has been raised since 2016, with more fundraisers to come, including a Paint Party March 3 at the Hide out Eats and Beats and second annual Outdoor Carnival at Mattie McCullough Elementary School.

“It’s been so rewarding for the members to be involved in this project that we’re actually even toying with the idea of maybe even continuing on and creating another play park for the north side of Red Deer,” states Kmetiuk. “If we can have play parks where it’s just normally manufactured in such a way that it’s access for everybody’s abilities and that’s the norm, would be the ideal goal.”

He says it’s been very rewarding for people to see that you can help people in your community.

“It’s a bit of a showpiece for our community as well on the world stage,” explains Kmetiuk. “I see this as a win-win for everybody, so I think it’s a great project and hopefully we’ll see its completion and see where it takes us the following year.”

Kathy Skelton with the Make A Move with Jagger Foundation, says this entire experience has changed the way she looks at things.

“When you don’t have a child who has any disabilities or any limitations at all, you don’t necessarily think about that,” explains Skelton. “My children don’t have limitations and up until two years ago, I never really thought about ‘What would it be like if my child did and I couldn’t take them on a playground or they couldn’t go play with their friends?’, so it’s been a huge learning experience for myself and for my family and it’s something that has definitely changed our lives.”

For more information on the Make A Move with Jagger Foundation, visit www.makeamovewithjagger.com or their Facebook Page.

Access for All Barrier-Free Playscapes