• Rotary Year: 2017-2018
  • Application Date: 5/31/2017
  • Club Name: Lexington Lunch
  • Project Name: Boxerwood Play Trail Upgrade Project
  • Project Total Expenditures: $10,000.00
  • Grant Amount Requested: $4,000.00
  • Describe the Project, its location and its objectives: Located at Boxerwood Nature Center in Lexington, Virginia, the Children’s Play Trail is a unique nature-based playground for children under seven years old. The playground features various activities designed to stimulate the imagination and encourage outdoor play. The goal of the project is to install various upgrades, including a roof over the “Mud Kitchen and Dirty Bistro” play feature, providing shade and water harvesting that will supply water for the mud-pie play activity. The project will further provide new play areas, flower gardens, a new gate and upgrades to the fence. This project will enliven the space, provide additional play/learning opportunities, as well as amenities such as seating and tables for parents and grandparents.
  • This is the Club’s: Primary Project Application
  • Expected Start Date: 8/1/2017
  • Expected End Date: 10/31/2017
  • Expected Number of Beneficiaries: 3000
  • Describe how the project will benefit the community and/or improve the lives of the less fortunate: Outdoor play, and the opportunity for creative physical play is crucial to early childhood development. The Children’s Play Trail, in its whimsy and unique play stations provides youngsters with infinite opportunities to flex their imagination stimulate their problem solving skills, build their minds and bodies. It also provides families with much-needed bonding time away from digital devices; a place for parents and grandparents to engage in play, read or tell stories, or to simply enjoy watching their children in joyful activity. Boxerwood is a treasured resource that few communities enjoy, and we strive to keep the place accessible to families of all income levels.
  • Estimated Total Project Volunteer Hours: 480
  • Describe the Rotarian hands-on activities in the project (i.e. non-financial participation): Rotarians will help with installing flower gardens and whimsical art, spreading mulch flooring in the play areas, building new play stations, painting the wooden fence/gate, or general maintenance on existing play stations—spreading pea gravel in the Dig to China area, organizing the pots and pans in the Mud Kitchen, or making a mulch trail through the caterpillar tunnel.
  • Describe the publicity plan to inform the general public that this is a Rotary sponsored project: The project will be promoted on the RCLL website and would have prominence on the Boxerwood website as well, with photos, information about funding and volunteers. Rotary would also be recognized on the “Sponsorships and Partners” page of the Boxerwood website. RCLL enjoys a broad social media presence, and this project lends itself well to public interest photos and story angles. Our Facebook page will spotlight this activity. We will also provide The Rotary Informer with an article and inform local media (News Gazette newspaper and WDBJ-7 Television) of the project. Upon completion of the project, Boxerwood will host a Grand Re-Opening Picnic for the public, in which the Rotarians will be recognized, and a plaque unveiled in the Children’s Play Trail to give credit to the Rotary Club and other sponsors.
  • Cooperating Organizations – Please list each cooperating organization, if any: Boxerwood: Boxerwood Nature Center’s mission is to educate and inspire people of all ages to become environmentally responsible stewards of the Earth. We are a 15-acre nature center that provides colorful and stimulating living outdoor classrooms for school children in grades preK-12. Our teaching staff works in partnership with each of the local school systems to provide environmental education to 2,500 students each year, helping the schools to meet the Virginia Standards of Learning in life sciences.
  • Letter(s) of Participation: Rotary Play Trail project letter.docx
  • Project Expenditure Budget – list detail uses of funds for the project, or use the Budget Upload: See budget upload.
  • Project Funding Budget – list detail sources of funds for the project, or use the Budget Upload: See budget upload.
  • Budget Upload:Budget for Boxerwood project 2017-2018.xls
  • Primary Contact Name: Lori Sadler
  • Primary Contact Rotary Position: President Elect
  • Primary Contact Email: lorisadler2@yahoo.com
  • Primary Contact Phone: 5404636379
  • Financial Contact Name: Nicholas Martino
  • Financial Contact Rotary Position: RCLL Foundation Treasurer
  • Financial Contact Address: 
    1130 N Lee Highway
    Lexington, VA 24450
    United States View on Map
  • Financial Contact Email: NMartino@mydccu.com
  • Financial Contact Phone: 540-946-3212
  • District Grant Project Authorization LetterBoxerwood grant 2017.jpg
  • Grant Number: 1718-16
  • Grant Award: $4,000.00