While the funding is now in place for the outdoor shed at the Sunrise Legacy Park Early Learning Centre, the next steps must first be taken before the shed becomes a reality. 

"We are hoping to have a shed built and installed either outside of our fence or inside of our play yard," said Assistant Director Jessica Maas. "Our hope is is that we'll be able to put our outdoor play equipment, our strollers, and any sort of toys that we use outside for the program to be able to put them away so that they're safe, they are free from the elements, and they aren't being damaged or stolen by people from the community."

What's next is approval from the Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division.

"Because we are located in a school we unfortunately don't have the means to just kind of go ahead and do sort of whatever we want with our play space or our building," explained Maas. "We do have to receive the okay from the school division for that, which is fine, but then once we get that okay, then we have to kind of navigate sort of what we are going to build, and then figure out what it's going to cost, and if there's any community organizations that are willing to help us out with it because we are a nonprofit organization."

Currently, the six-person stroller is the most valuable item to protect. 

"We just have one buggy that we actually received a donation for last year from the Young Fellows of Weyburn, and it's a six person stroller," she shared. "I'm sure if you've ever seen us out walking with it, it is quite large, you can't miss it. But we were very grateful for that, and because we utilize it so much, we just fear that if we leave it outside, something is going to happen to it, or it's going to be wrecked by the weather, so we're just keeping it inside right now and then hopefully once we get our shed installed, it will be able to go in there and then we can use it sort of a little freer without having to navigate the doors."

Thanks to Prairie Sky Co-op, the funding is in place once the go-ahead is given. Read more HERE.

"We have a couple parents that are actually on our board that brought this to our attention that the Co-op was looking to disperse some funds through the community, and so I put forth the application through the Co-op," Maas noted, adding it was as easy as going onto the Co-op website, and had to explain, "what the purpose of our project was, what we were looking to achieve from that sort of a a cash monetary value, and then what we were hoping to use that money for."

Whether the shed will go inside the play space or outside of it, time will tell. But anyone with children, let alone several toddlers to care for, knows a shed to house a stroller just makes life easier.

photo by marna