The former Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department donated over $13,000 to Van Buren Elementary School’s playground fundraiser earlier this month.
On Dec. 6, Jane Donaldson stopped by the elementary school to drop off the check for $13,509.36 to Van Buren’s PTO.
To completely overhaul the playground, the school needs to raise a total of $120,000.
The overhaul will include bringing in new equipment and flooring to make the playground more accessible to all students.
“We are so excited to have gotten the money,” said PTO President and VBE art teacher Heather Sawyer.
“We have been working so hard to raise money.”
Sawyer said that the fundraiser had raised $27,500 after the donation, but that the money had already been spent on the first playground structure. The project will be done in phases as the money comes in with the new surface being installed last.
Donaldson was a member of the fire department’s executive board.
Earlier this year, the Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department agreed to a settlement with the Brown County Commissioners which was intended to dissolve the fire department and unfreeze Brown County’s grant money at the state level.
The agreement took effect in May. The Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department agreed to legally dissolve in exchange for a $77,545.60 settlement from the county. A part of that settlement went toward paying off the legal bills that Van Buren VFD still owed for a years-long court battle with the Van Buren Township trustee, according to the settlement agreement.
Donaldson said the money donated was what remained after legal and other bills were paid.
She said that one of the stipulations of the department dissolving was that funds put into the station would be returned to the community.
“That is the most prominent community source in our township, so the money went there,” she said.
Donaldson said the department was hoping the school would use the money for their playground fundraiser.
“(Former Van Buren) Chief John Ward said that’s where he wanted it to go. He had children who went to that school and he really wanted to support them,” Donaldson said.
“It just lined up. It took us a while to get all of the bills paid off before we could close it…It was a sad ending for us, but we wanted to make a good outcome of it.”
Sawyer said she hopes the fire department’s donation will inspire others to donate this holiday season.
Checks can be made out to Van Buren Elementary PTO with “Playground Fund” in the memo and they can be mailed to: Van Buren Elementary, 4045 State Road 135 South, Nashville, IN 47448. The PTO is a 501c3.
