This weekend will be the first volunteer day to help renovate Oak Springs Elementary School’s playground, which was set on fire in April.

The damages from the fire are estimated at about $95,000. With community support, the majority of the funds needed to return the playground to its original state have been raised. The Austin Parks Foundation awarded Oak Springs a $50,000 community grant, C3 Presents donated $25,000 and 177 donors have given $12,675 to help cover most of the expenses.

Who: Austin Parks Foundation Volunteer Manager and Environmental Educator Bill Stout and University of Texas Football Director of Player Development Kevin Washington will be available for interviews. 

What: About 100 University of Texas football players are volunteering with Austin Parks Foundation to do a large mulching project, which will benefit all trees, including those in and surrounding the playground area, but especially those that received burn damage or stress caused by the fire. The volunteers will also focus on painting some of the park’s infrastructure.

When: 8–11 a.m. Saturday, July 15

Where: Oak Springs Elementary School Park, 3601 Webberville Road

Additional volunteer days will be scheduled later in the summer for further painting and storage unit projects. A ribbon cutting will be held once the playscape is complete.

To support the project, please visit the project’s EdBacker page.

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