A local fund in Haines has made a large contribution towards rebuilding the community’s school playground. The project is a commemoration of the life of a victim of the 2020 landslide in Haines. The donation should allow construction to start after the end of the school year.
This weekend marked the third anniversary of the landslide in Haines that took the lives of David Simmons and Jenae Larson. Shortly after the tragedy, a group formed around Larson’s mother. Calling itself Team Jenae, the group set about to fulfill her vision for local children.
Sloper: ”Jenae was working as the kindergarten teacher when the slide happened.”
Resident Shelly Sloper is part of Team Jenae.
Sloper: “And she had talked to her mom before she passed, talking about her idea of how to make the playground better, trying to improve it, and just how it wasn’t a very exciting space for her students.”
The group set about fundraising. Last year, they gathered a whopping half million dollars, but it still wasn’t enough.
Sloper: “I think everyone would be shocked to know how expensive playgrounds are to build, it’s a very big project, much bigger than we thought. The bid that we received was about $725K.”
So the group went back to fundraising. This weekend, on the three-year anniversary of the slide, they reached their goal.
Sloper: “We did find out that we had received a $150K donation from the Lucy Harrell Memorial Fund, here in Haines.”
That fund is operated by a committee that is perpetuating the generosity of another recently passed resident.
Hansen: “She appointed people that knew her pretty well that she hoped would be her eyes and ears to hear what the needs were in the community.”
Resident Vince Hansen is the chair of the Lucy Harrell Memorial Fund Committee. He says a few years before Harrel’s passing in 2019 at the age of 95, she started donating much of her wealth.
Hansen: “She’d see somebody that needed housing, and she had faith in them, and she would buy a house, and then she would rent it to that person, and then that person would pay for it. People who weren’t able to get a loan. And then she really had a heart for Haines Assisted Living, and the people that would be there. She really wanted that place to succeed.”
Hansen says before Harrel died, she put about $1M into a fund to be distributed to worthy causes. He says usually the donations are on a smaller scale, as the committee hopes to make the fund last a few more years. But the playground stood out.
Hansen: “Lucy asked us to be her eyes and ears, and we try to approach it as she would. We have a new committee member that came on, and she said that this is something that Lucy would definitely have supported.”
Hansen says the committee wanted to see the playground rebuild fully funded and ready to begin next summer. So they decided to donate the $150K to make the funds match last year’s cost estimate.
Sloper, with Team Jenae, says the plans are all ready to go.
Sloper: “We are planning to add a lot of really exciting pieces of equipment, we are changing the surfacing on the ground, we are going to add some elements related to Haines, like boats and whales, things like that that were part of Haines that Jenae really loved. We will be leaving some of the equipment there but also adding a basket swing and a boat structure, and a cone spinner and some other really exciting things that are supposed to be built for students that are sort of on the younger side.”
Last year’s bid has expired, and Sloper says she hopes the company that submitted it will do so again. She says if all goes well, Haines kids will be enjoying their new playground after next summer.