Last Wednesday, the Rotary Club of Fairhope gave a $30,500 donation to Fairhope Intermediate School to help make some dreams come true for some of the school’s students.
Brittany Boone Luckie, a special education teacher at Fairhope Intermediate, said that the money would go completely to support the construction of a playground for students with special needs, something she said her kids have wanted for some time.
“This makes a huge difference to my kids,” Luckie said. “Some of them don’t get the opportunity to play at the playground, and I wanted my kids to be able to enjoy the same things all of the other students do.”
Rotary Club of Fairhope President Chad Clark said the club was happy to donate to such a worthy cause that would make a difference in the lives of kids in the Fairhope community. The funds were raised from the Rotary Club’s annual Steak Cookoff and a Rotary Club District grant for $9,500.
“Last year, about this time when they said to start the cookoff, the big thing for me is what can Rotary do to make a difference in our community,” Clark said.
Clark also thanked the title sponsors for the cookoff, First Community Bank and Piggly Wiggly.
Clark said he approached former Fairhope Community Affairs Director Sherry Sullivan about projects the Rotary Club could help with, and she suggested partnering with the school.
“I went up the school and Brittany showed me around her classroom,” Clark said. “I knew right away this was something Fairhope Rotary needed to do. She already had it planned out, she just needed resources and delivery.”
Luckie said there were still some more funds to raise for the playground to become a reality, but she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the Rotary Club and its members.
“This is going to mean so much to my students, and I just don’t fully know how to say thank you for all of the help and support,” Luckie said.
Clark said the club wasn’t done after donating the funds, either.
“If you need help putting all of this together, building the playground, you can count on us to help,” Clark said.
