Already Making a Difference!

 

Thanks to the Portage Family Skate Park project, I am now all the more eager for production to get underway on the park.

Recently, I wrote a letter of support about the project. After being printed in the Portage Daily Register, my daughter’s dream of owning a skateboard became a reality. In efforts to further encourage our local youth to undertake recreational activities, Kyle Little, president of the PFSP presented her with a custom-made board. To say she is excited is an understatement. We’re talking jumping for joy, is this real, wow people in this world are awesome, pure glee.

In her excitement she asked when, when can she use this at the park! After explaining to her that the skate park was still in the fundraising portion of the project, she replied with her childish innocence, “Oh, ok, well let’s just ask people to help so we can get it done. Teamwork, remember mom?”

Sometimes I wish we could all have the youthful viewpoints that children hold dear- the ability to walk up to a new face and say “let’s play,” or the view that everyone truly is good and we always work together. This same wise little girl has held the motto “Life is life,” with a shrug when things don’t go according to plan.

It’s easy to allow community ideas to be put on the backburner when we all have our own (BUSY!) lives to deal with. Oftentimes it may seem overwhelming already, even without having to take the time to think of the future or the big picture around us. In all reality though, we are closer than ever to having that skate park a reality. This project is approved, supported and wanted, even craved, by so many members of our community. So, why can’t we believe like children believe? Why can’t we extend a kindness to the youth and families in our area, even if we don’t know their name?

Although the park is not yet complete, it is already a reality in so many minds. If we as a community work together, this dream, this community effort can become a reality all the sooner.

Brooke McGee