As we reported yesterday, the Guthrie County Community Foundation has announced its 2014 grant recipients, and one of the larger grants that has been awarded from this cycle will go to the City of Menlo.

The City will be purchasing an entirely new set of playground equipment for area youth to enjoy, and City Clerk Evelyn Powell explains why she felt this was a need that had to be addressed.

“Last fall the playground equipment that was in our park became damaged and unusuable–didn’t meet state codes any longer–and we had remove the equipment.  Since we no longer have the school here in town, there was no playground there for our kids so we had to get busy and find some funding for a new playground so that our kids have a fun, safe place to play here in town.”

Powell says she expects the City to purchase the new playground sometime in May, and she then hopes to have it installed by mid-summer.

Powell also offers a “big, huge thank you” to the Foundation for accepting Menlo’s grant application.

“This was such a need for our community and we’re so excited.  The kids have already been asking, ‘how soon are we going to get our playground?’… we’re anxious to get going on it.”

The City of Menlo’s grant through the Guthrie County Community Foundation totalled $11,700.  That amount was the second largest grant issued by the Foundation this year.