We had to reschedule it due to bad weather, but we finally got to build a playset for Emma, an adorable—and spunky!—4-year-old who’s battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia and winning so far. COATS teamed up with the Roc Solid Foundation‘s Play It Forward program to build a playset and install it in Emma’s grandparents’ backyard, surprising Emma and her brothers.
That pic on the right is Emma herself with Roc Solid founder Eric Newman. She was delighted to see her new playset, and even more delighted to see her new mini Jeep. She’s a little leadfoot already! (Video is hosted on Facebook and shot in portrait orientation.)
We built most of the playset on Friday night in the COATS parking lot, with COATS employees and volunteers from VP Karen Connor’s church pitching in.
On Saturday, reps from COATS and Roc Solid took Emma and her family out to lunch, then to a “bounce house” full of inflatables while the rest of the building crew installed the playset in the yard and enclosed and mulched the area. As usual, all the volunteers signed the playset with their best wishes for Emma’s recovery.
If you’d like to support the Roc Solid Foundation’s work, or you’d like to nominate a child recovering from cancer for a playset, you can do that on their website. And if you’d like to support Emma and send her a message, visit her Facebook page.
We’d like to thank Emma and her family for the opportunity to meet you all and hopefully bring a little happiness and hope into your lives. We’re already looking forward to doing this again next year!