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Published: June 7, 2008
RUSKIN - For eight months, Luan Nguyen, Annie Moniz and Jessica Smith worked to raise money to build a playground for the children of Bayou Park Village.
They hosted movie nights, sponsored children's dances and had garage sales to collect every nickel and dime they could.
With the $900 they raised, a $2,000 grant from the Ruskin Community Development Foundation and $7,100 from the Bayou Pass Village Homeowners Association, they were able to match a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Sun City Center and another $10,000 from Ruskin-based Florida Home Partnership, a nonprofit, affordable-housing developer.
Recently, 68 of the 200 families living in the community turned out for the 2008 Bayou Pass Playground Buildup. Along with 12 employees from the Ruskin and Sun City Center Home Depot and 15 other volunteers from across South Shore, parents and children picked up hammers and screw drivers to assemble their own playground.
The adults handled the heavy work. The youngsters "worked" with wood, making smaller items such as piggy banks, football holders and wall racks.
Lois Kindle
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