need some help and suggestions about school playground equip

[chellem]

our school has a very very very poor looking playground... actually the statement about our playground is....... WHAT PLAYGROUND

we have been raising monies for the last year and this year for the playground...have a few thousand dollars...but if you've ever checked prices on playground equip...... O U C H ! ! ! ! they are high

we have been collecting box tops... campbell soup labels franco american labels and doing many fundraisers...... but still... the money isn't enough.... what we've been thinking about doing now is asking local business to DONATE money or supplies to help build our playground for example..wood.... screws.... plastic play pieces...sand....mulch..... greenery....picnic tables.... some of the sites one of the teachers have found with playground ordering info is also very very pricey....

do you all know of any other way we can go about raising interest in this playground deal

do you know of any web sites that sell low cost pieces to playground equipment

do you think business will contribute to get their name on donation plaques on our school fence??????????

any info or suggestions you might have would be awesome

either post here or email me at

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thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[chellem]

sorry.....i had to vent....please excuse the interruption

[bassmount]

K Chell, this is what we did since Charter Schools funding really is suck. We contacted the state to see if they had any surplus playground equipment first. We were able to get the "dome looking climbing jungle gym thing," several slides, swing sets and such for a song and then all we had to do was repaint and repair a bit. We then took what was left and bought one of the wooden "forts" (that sits up high on stilts and has another slide) and a little girls playhouse. We called Lowes and they donated like 85% of the cost of both of these. We then had a volunteer weekend to put it all together. We have a nice, not fancy playground that the kids are so happy to have. So, this is what I would do first...

1) Figure out if the "play surface" is still up to code. If not call a loca sand/mulch distributor and see if they will donate the sand or mulch. This was going to be our biggest expense since you have to have so many inches per foot, for it to pass inspection.

2) call the state surplus office. (I don't have the number, but it is in Raleigh and should be listed in the schools state directory)

3) Call Lowes or Home Depot and see what they can do for you.

[chellem]

you are soooooo cool bassmount....thanks.....gives me another great starting point...i'm not really in charge of the fundraising efforts but i am in a very good position to help with the person in charge of the playground..... there are several pieces of UNUSED playground equipment sitting behind the armory here in our city... not anything tooooo big...but it's something....more than we have now....really all we have now is two swing sets and a slide when you get more than one class out there...... we're afraid they're gonna hurt each other trying to get on the few things we have...i'm gonna have to post a pic of the things we have and then when we finish...i'm really excited about it just to see how much business involvement we can get and parental involvement to donate their time... parental invovlement in this school is almost nil

[bassmount]

One good thing about Charter Schools is the parents have to put in at least 4 hours a month in volunteer time.

See what you can get for free or cheap first, don't even attempt to go through one of those companies that sell "playgrounds." I saw one ready set up on your site that would accommodate up to 150-200 kids for 275,000.00-400,000.00, This to me was outrageous! I just had to wonder how the company thought a school was going to get that much money! I guess they sell it though since they are still in business. BUT most schools have trouble funding teaching supplies, books, etc., so I have a problem with all the companies that sell at outrageous prices to elementary/Jr. High/High schools. Textbook companies are on of my biggest aggravators! The school wanted a class set of "Treasure Island" paperback, 30 copies and they were going to charge the school $300.00 I was like hold on, that is more than full retail. I also informed them that they could get it for $3.95 per copy at Amazon, with free shipping. So the total would have been $118.50. Needless to say the principal went and checked it and then went off on the company we deal with. They got the set for $100.00 shipped. It just irks me that people take advantage of the places trying to educate. They are all out to make money, bottom line. It seems like an awful good profit to price a 3.95 paperback at 10.00. I have no doubts that the playground equipment companies do the same thing.