Today is mothers day, a day to celebrate and honor all the hard work our moms do for us. One Grants Pass mom is working tirelessly not only to improve the lives of her children, but also her own.
The playground; for most kids, it’s the ultimate place to spend a day, but for 5 year old Isaac Pinon the playground is truly special place.
“He’s a cancer survivor, he was diagnosed when he was just 3 and a half months old. 2 weeks after his diagnosis his tumor swelled and paralyzed him,” said Mona Pinon.
He is now wheelchair-bound. Before starting kindergarten last year, Isaac’s mom, Mona, realized the playground was far from handicap friendly.
“I brought my concerns up to the school board about accessibility, and they said go for it, we support you 100 percent.”
So she created “The Blue Slide Project” and within matter of months they were able to raise enough money to build a handicap accessible playground.
“The whole community benefits, for phase 2 we are trying to get rid of all the rocks.”
Occasionally volunteers sweep the pebbles off the playground but it’s a tiring cycle. The rocks makes it difficult for Isaac and other handicap children to use and get around the playground. Pinon was hoping a grant would help pay for phase two but that recently fell through. So she decided to take a personal goal to generate funds for the project.
“I said who would sponsor my weight loss, and so far I raised over 1,200 just by losing weight.”
So far she’s lost nearly 60 pounds and hopes to lose another 90 by
October. Walking has become her main exercise. Her and a group of friends plan to walk from Hoover Elementary School in Medford to Parkside Elementary in Grants Pass at the end of the month all in hopes of raising the additional funds needed.
“It’s just the right thing to do.”
Costs to make the remainder of the park handicap accessible costs about 100,000 dollars. The group has raised about half. All month long Lithia of Grants Pass is donating 100 dollars for every car sold.
You can find out more about the project by searching “Blue Slide Project” on Facebook.
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