AUGUSTA, Ga () – Covenant Presbyterian Church holding a special playground dedication for its members.

This new playground comes after the original was destroyed by Hurricane Helene almost a year ago as well as an anonymous $30,000 donation.

I spoke with Andy Cooke, one of the Co-Pastors at Covenant Presbyterian Church, who shared that they were devastated upon witnessing the damage to the old playground.

“This is a vital space for our entire community, and we feel it’s something we want to offer to the community, which is why we always keep the playground open to the public, so we aimed to rebuild it as soon as possible,” Cooke said.

Cooke says the rebuilding of this playground would not have been possible without the help of the community.

“What has been truly moving is seeing the number of people beyond the church and pre-school who value this space so much and how many are willing to contribute their time and money to restore it. Witnessing our collaboration with the community has been a joy for me,” Cooke shared.

Right after the ribbon cutting, dozens of kids ran to the slides, swings and other fun parts of the new playground.

With the re-build, they were able to change and add some new features.

“We’re thrilled that it is now more accessible for various kinds of children and parents than it was before and includes features that make it more inclusive for many people in our community,” Cooke added.

The space is not only used by the church but also the preschool and is a resource to the community.