Mayors Kelly and Wamp joined Councilman Darrin Ledford, other area elected officials, as well as advocate and Chattanooga Fire Department Captain Skyler Phillips, to announce that the Harvesting Inclusive Playground has received $450,000 in funding commitments from the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and the State of Tennessee.
In total from all sources, the playground has reached $1.1 million of committed funding, more than halfway to the $2 million target.
"Harvesting Inclusive Play is more than just a place for families to gather,” said Chattanooga City Councilman Darrin Ledford. “It represents our commitment to each other and what we can achieve when the human spirit is uplifted. The love from our community, volunteers, and the collaboration of our state, county, and city governments demonstrate what we can accomplish together to make a genuine impact."
The city and county have each committed $100,000, with $25,000 of the city’s contribution coming from Councilman Ledford’s allocation of community programming funds. The state of Tennessee recently announced that our area’s legislative delegation had secured $250,000 in state funding for the project.
“This is Hamilton County at its best–the public and private sector coming together to ensure every child, regardless of physical challenges, has a playground to call their own,” said Mayor Wamp. “Now we need our community to do what it does best and generously support this project to get it across the finish line.”
“I want to thank Councilman Ledford for his leadership on this project, as well as Mayor Wamp, our county partners, and our state legislative delegation,” said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. “Parks and playgrounds should be accessible to everyone. This park will be a symbol of what our community can do when we come together to help our most vulnerable. I hope everyone will consider supporting this project.”
“I want to say thank you to Councilman Ledford, who has been supportive of this project from the beginning,” said Captain Skyler Phillips. “As a firefighter, it’s been great to be able to lean on wonderful partners like Kiwanis, and all our Harvesting Inclusive Playground Committee members. I want to advocate not just for my son, but for children of all ability levels all over this area. We still need help to get this done. Please consider donating by buying a brick. We are so close.”
People who want to buy a brick to support the playground can go to https://www.harvestinginclusiveplay.com/