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Belchertown News |
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Hadley Dental Office to Donate to Jessica's Boundless Playground
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Friday,
December 3, 2010
Owner of River Valley Dental in Hadley and Belchertown resident Babak Gojgini was looking for a way to give back to the community. So when Gojgini attended the Belchertown Firefighters Pancake breakfast last month, he saw the Jessica’s Boundless Playground banner at McCarthy’s Pub. “It sprung an idea in my head,” said Gojgini.
River Valley Dental, located at 63 East Street in Hadley, will be donating 5% from the sales of all their services during the month of December to the Jessica’s Boundless Playground Project. They are a full service dental practice that focuses on a pleasant experience for their patients. “We like to take the fear element out of the experience,” said Gojgini.
Gojgini prides his business on being family oriented and Jessica Martins' family have been patients of River Valley Dental for years. “It is nice when you know people with a cause you have a heart for,” said River Valley Dental Hygienist Mary Yarslay.
Jessica Martins was a 2009 Belchertown High School graduate who passed away the following October. She was 19 years old.
Jessica lived with Rett Syndrome, a developmental disorder that “bound” her to a wheelchair. Yarslay said that she was always amazed by the way the Belchertown schools and Belchertown students supported Jessica. “It was good to see how the kids supported her,” said Yarslay. Yarslay also echoed the sentiments that lead to the naming the project after Jessica as she never let her disability hold her back. “I was always amazed by her progress,” she said of Jessica.
River Valley Dental Office Manager Ellie Sexton added that she always looked forward to when Jessica came to their office. “Jessica was a sweetheart,” she said.
Boundless Playgrounds are universally accessible playgrounds. Key features of a Boundless Playground are that the highest play deck and surfacing needs to be wheelchair accessible, swings with high back support, and components to help with developmental skills. The proposed design for Jessica’s Boundless Playground in Belchertown also has an exercise trail ideal for adults and seniors.
Even though these special playgrounds are accessible to disabled children and adults, it is also fun for children without disabilities. The founder of the Boundless Playground organization Amy Jaffe Barzach once said: “The best part about an inclusive playground is that the very things you include for children with special needs are often the most popular parts of the playground for everyone.”
Because Boundless Playgrounds allow disabled adults to engage with their children as well, the Department of Defense has installed Boundless Playgrounds at military bases across the country. It is the hope of those behind the Jessica’s Boundless Playground project that area disabled veterans will take advantage of the benefits of a universally accessible playground in Belchertown—a community with a history of meeting the needs of it’s veterans.
For more information about Jessica’s Boundless Playground or would like to contribute to the effort, go to www.JessicasBoundlessPlayground.com where you can buy a personalized engraved brick that will be used for a walkway. There is also a “Jessica’s Boundless Playground” page on Facebook if you would like to get involved with the effort. Donations could also be made payable to: Town of Belchertown, C/O Jessica’s Boundless Playground, P.O. Box 607, Belchertown, MA 01007. I
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Copyright 2008-2011 Michael Seward
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