7-Yr-Old Inspires Town to Fund Playground for Special Needs Kids

• Seven-year-old Gwen Ciccozzi has cerebral palsy and limited mobility, which makes it difficult for her to play in the nearest playground.
• Their city is still gathering funds to build an all-inclusive playground, so they decided to help raise funds by selling lemonades.
• Her salesmanship inspired other families to also sell lemonades or other goods to pitch in.

More and more residents of the northern Ohio town of Brunswick have joined the community effort to raise funds for a special needs playground. They were all inspired by seven-year-old Gwen Ciccozzi, who has raised over $1,000 with her lemonade stand.

Her mom, Rebecca, said that Gwen had suffered a stroke while still in the womb. She has cerebral palsy and limited mobility on the right side of her body, which makes it difficult for her to play in the nearest playground.

Rebecca told WEWS-TV, “We didn’t know if she would walk or talk or even be able to understand what other people were saying. Traditional playgrounds with wood chips and climbers are just something that Gwen really struggled with.”

Last year, the city approved building an inclusive playground. However, an area designed to accommodate children of all needs costs quite a lot. The city had to seek grants and other financial sources.

Gwen’s salesmanship inspired many other families to open up lemonade stands or sell whatever they can to help raise funds.

Amanda Burke is selling vegetables from their garden with her 5-year-old daughter, Mikayla Dwulat. She shared how excited her daughter was when she asked if she wanted to join in on the fundraising.

Amanda told The Gazette that they wanted to raise $1,000 as well. “I’m going to have a separate container that 100% of the proceeds go right to the playground. If somebody wants to toss change in or a dollar, they’ll be able to donate directly to the playground as well,” she added.

The new playground, set to open next year, will feature wide, rubberized trails that can accommodate wheelchairs and audio features for kids with impaired hearing or sight.

Amanda shared that she wanted her daughter to learn the importance of community and acceptance at a young age.

“I’m so blessed to be able to be a part of this,” she added. “Mikayla tells her friends at school about it and it makes me happy that she’s as excited for it as I am.”

Source: Inside Edition