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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

Whether you’ve waited until the end of the year to make an annual charitable donation or have been prompted to give through the nature of the holiday season, I encourage you to keep in mind local organizations and projects in the community this year as you consider how to give.

There are many organizations doing wonderful things in the community, whether it’s the Albert Lea Salvation Army, the United Way of Freeborn County, Youth for Christ, the Freeborn County Historical Museum — and the list goes on.

I could rattle off lists of dozens of things these organizations do to better the community, whether it’s feeding the hungry, providing clothing or temporary shelter to those in need, giving a safe place for youth to go after school or documenting our area’s history.

I could probably fill up this entire column with a list of all the good things these organizations do — and that’s just a handful of organizations, not to mention all those I didn’t mention.

Though these nonprofits accept donations all year long, I think it’s probably safe to assume that many of their donations come at the end of the year. These donations not only provide a boost at this time of year, but they help sustain programs three, six, even nine months from now.

Close to my heart, of course, is the inclusive playground slated to be built at Edgewater Park next summer. This $1.25 million project will provide children of all abilities the opportunity to play at their own pace alongside their peers.

Though we’ve come a long way, we still have about $150,000 to go until we reach our goal for the playground. Then after that, we’ll start fundraising for the restrooms, and then after that, the Miracle baseball field. While we’ve been blessed so much by the support of the community with this project already, we’re asking for a little more support to help push us through our goal for this first phase.

We have some things in the works, including Cosmic Bingo at the Moose Lodge on Dec. 15, and we are beginning to sell bricks for $250 to be laid out along the sidewalk at the park.

If you have the means to give this season, please consider this opportunity. You can contact me or any other member of the fundraising committee to make a donation for a brick.

And as long as we get enough teams on board, you can also pencil in Feb. 10 for our Plunge for the Park during the Big Freeze. If your business, friends or family would like to form a team to jump into Fountain Lake, please reach out to me. We have almost reached our initial goal for 10 teams!

After two years of fundraising, we’re getting so close to seeing this playground come to fruition! Thank you!

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Wednesday.