Friday, April 26, 2024
In the Shelby household, it is often said that “Shelbys don’t whine” and “instead of complaining about something, we do something about it.”
So when 5-year-old Oakley Shelby told her parents, James and Jen, that she sure wished there were swings at the firetruck playground by the Jim Burks Firefighters Memorial Park, their response was: “Well, why don’t you do something about it?”
With her parents’ help, she did.
Within 13 days, a gofundme page had raised $2,290 of the estimated $4,000 that will be needed to install two regular swings, a baby swing and a handicapped swing.
Determined to raise the rest of the money needed, the preschooler will be selling hot chocolate today for any donation to her project.
She will be at CrossFit, located at 1430 Lipan Highway, from 9:30-11 a.m. Her parents and another couple own that business. James is also a Cleburne firefighter and a member of the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department.
On Monday, Oakley is scheduled to meet with a management team at Lowe’s Home Improvement. The store, Jen said, has already committed to helping with labor and supplies.
Mother and daughter have met with Parks and Recreation Director Aaron McLain at the play area, which is located off North Travis Street. It is a short distance from Memorial Lane, a monument site that honors the service of firefighters, law enforcement, first responders and the military.
Jen said that “it was really pretty crazy” how quickly people supported Oakley’s idea to put swings at the popular play area, which is along the route of the Moments in Time Hike and Bike Trail.
The original plan, she said, had been to have two swings – a regular one, and a baby swing. But when about $1,700 was raised within the first 24 hours through gofundme, the family decided to go big.
“We realized, oh, wow, a lot of people are really going to support this,” Jen stated.
Now the plan is to have four swings, including one to accommodate handicapped children.
It was Oakley’s idea to raise money by selling hot chocolate, Jen said. A supportive family friend donated the needed supplies.
Jen and James had expected packets of Swiss Miss but opened the box from Amazon to find Ghiradelli hot chocolate mix, along with marshmallows and cups.
On Wednesday, Jen posted a video on Facebook of her daughter practicing her sales pitch.
“It sure is cold today,” Oakley said as she sat by a fireplace. “Would you like to buy some hot cocoa?”
The $4,000 figure is an estimate, Jen said, adding that once McLain finishes getting bids they will have “a better number on what we’ll actually have to fund raise.”
The parks director “was great” with Oakley when he recently met with the two of them at the playground, she said.
“He was so good with her,” she stated, adding that McLain even enlisted Oakley to help him measure the area.
She said McLain explained that there has to be enough room for a mulched “landing area” in case a child falls from a swing, and there also needs to be a handicapped ramp.
“A lot more goes into it than we realized,” Jen stated.
Bethany Warner, Gran-bury’s public information officer, confirmed that McLain is currently researching the particulars involved with the swings request.
The next step, she said, will be for the request to be placed on a Parks Board agenda as a discussion item.
Jen said that if the request ultimately ends up going before the City Council, Oakley will be there to personally address the elected officials.
kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258
