Last week, the Cordell Lions Club partnered with the Washita-Custer County Treatment Court Program to refurbish the Lion’s Club Community Playground ahead of the Fourth of July Celebration.
Participants of the Treatment Court Program worked together with the Lions Club to spread 100 cubic yards of mulch across the playground. The last time the mulch was changed was around three years ago.
Along with this, they also collectively picked up trash in the park, skate park, and pool areas.
“I think we had about 16 people and it took about two and a half, three hours, about three hours. By 5:30 or so we pretty well had it all spread out,” Lions Club member Bob Plummer said. “So they did a great job.”
The mulch that was spread around the playground was provided by the Lions Club and was worth around $2,700 according to Plummer.
Previously, the Lions Club has worked with the Treatment Court in getting other community projects accomplished.
“They have been instrumental with our Christmas light display for years, and we are very appreciative of their continued efforts that benefit our community,” MaCrae Brunker, Lions Club President said.
Late Lions Club member Judy Goeringer had originally begun the project when she had gone to the schools to ask kids what they would want to see in a new playground.
The park was assembled by members of the Lions Club along with community members back in April of 2012. The park that stood in its place had originally been built about 25 years before that.
“It was really very much a community project,” Plummer said. “Overall there were over like 500 people that worked on that park. One time we maybe had as many as 150 to 200 people there. Just like ants going everywhere.”
The Washita-Custer County Treatment Court Program was created in an effort to divert nonviolent felony offenders from prison while helping them rehabilitate from substance abuse disorders.
“Performing volunteer service hours, such as this, is a way for participants in the Washita-Custer County Treatment Court to give back to their communities,” Judge Christopher S. Kelly said in a press release. “We appreciate the opportunity to help the Cordell Lions Club maintain their playground.”
In total, the Treatment Court Program estimated the worth of labor to be around $480 based on a standard wage of $10 per hour.
While in the programs, participants go to work and treatment, perform volunteer work, attend self-help meetings, and follow a strict performance contract.
During this time they are highly supervised, and statistics provided by the treatment court said that it costs around $5,000 a year to participate in the program as opposed to the $19,000 a year it costs to keep one person incarcerated.
“The Cordell Lion’s Club is extremely grateful to the Drug Court volunteers who helped us spread an entire truckload of wood chips in the park and also with many other projects in the past,” Brunker said.
