St. Elizabeth Students Pie Teachers in Face for Accessible Playground Fundraiser

Staff at St. Elizabeth Catholic School got a little messy while raising money for an important cause.

Earlier this month, students had the opportunity to pie a teacher in the face or pop a slime balloon over their head with all the proceeds going towards installing an accessible playground at the school.

“We recognize that in this community there are a lot of students with mobility issues who really have no place to play,” said principal Mike Giroux, who was on the receiving end of many pies. “Our goal is to raise $100,000 over five years towards having that playground installed in the yard, not only for the use of our students, but also for the community outside of school hours.”

“We have a lot of wheelchair accessible kids at our school, so we think it’s fair that everyone has a chance to have fun and play,” added Grade 7 student Emma Salisbury, who was helping with the event.

The school is coming to the end of its first year of raising money for the new playground. Through a number of fundraising initiatives, the generosity of the school community as well as various organizations, approximately $35,000 has been raised to date.

That includes a very heartfelt contribution from Grade 2 student Colton Ranger, who donated all $233 from his piggy bank.

“I felt happy, because I did a good thing with my money,” says Colton. “Everybody would be happy playing on the playground.”

The idea of contributing his hard-earned money came to Colton after he saw the Rose City Riot Wheelchair Basketball Team at his school’s open house night. His mother, Allison Ranger, recalled that as they were leaving the gym, Colton told her he wanted to help.

“At the time I said, ‘Ok buddy we’ll talk about it’ because we were still doing other activities,” says Ranger. “I didn’t bring it up to him a second time or anything. He brought it up to me multiple times over the weekend.”

“So, we emptied out his piggy bank and rolled up all the money. I asked him ‘are you sure you want to do this?’ He said ‘Ya mom. I want all of my friends to be able to play with us on the playground.’ His whole purpose for this is so Dylan and James in his class can play with him at recess and everybody can have fun.”

Word began to spread, and individuals and companies started matching Colton’s donation, from relatives in Florida to the family’s dentist. The fundraising event began with a cheque presentation of $1,600 on behalf of the Grade 2 student. To date, Colton has raised nearly $2,000 for the accessible playground.

“He has created this ripple effect of kindness and compassion and it’s beyond anything I could have imagined for my child,” says his mother. “I’ve genuinely never been more proud in my entire life.”