In Kingsport, Tennessee, the spirit of community was on full display as over 150 volunteers gathered for a “Day of Caring” event at Darrell’s Dream Boundless Playground in Warriors’ Path State Park. This annual event, now in its 18th year, is dedicated to maintaining the inclusive playground, which welcomes both children and adults of all abilities.

Organized by the non-profit Friends of Warriors’ Path State Park, the event underscores the importance of community involvement in preserving the playground, which attracts more than 165,000 visitors annually. With such high foot traffic, regular upkeep is essential, making these bi-annual community days crucial for the park’s maintenance.

Throughout the day, volunteers tackled a variety of tasks to spruce up the playground. They washed equipment, raked leaves, and spread fresh mulch across the grounds. This collective effort involved several community and civic organizations, corporate teams, and local high school students, who together contributed approximately 700 hours of their time.

Adding to the day’s success, a local business generously donated $10,000 to aid in the park’s upkeep. Jennifer Salyer, a project manager at Barge Design Solutions, expressed her delight, having initially requested only $5,000. The unexpected doubling of the donation illustrates the community’s strong commitment to supporting this vital recreational space.

An area business donated $10,000 to help maintain the playground. Barge Design Solutions project manager Jennifer Salyer said she only asked for $5,000, but was thrilled to know the company had doubled that amount.

“So far, Design Solutions has a community fund grant. And as employees, we can contribute to that and then submit applications for grants. So I teamed up with Mary to prepare an application for [the] playground, which is actually one of Barge’s legacy projects. This is the first playground project that I worked on as the landscape architect.”

Mary Steadman with the Friends of Warriors’ Path State Park said the money is much needed.

“We are so grateful because this is going to be a huge help we’ve got,” Steadman said. “We’ve got to raise about $50,000 plus this year for playground repairs to replace the surfacing in the playground. And this is going to go a long way to helping us accomplish that. So we are so excited.”

Those who missed Saturday’s clean-up event can attend another one in the spring.