There will be no more wood chips found scattered around the halls and classrooms at c’usqunela Elementary, thanks to the generosity of a local tire shop and hard work by the school PAC.
The floor of the school’s playground was replaced by rubber, a job that cost $40,000 – with $20,00o donated by Kal Tire through the company’s Replay Fund and the remaining money provided by the Parent Advisory Committee.
Around 1,123 square feet of wood chips were replaced by the rubber flooring.
Representatives from Kal Tire were at the school on Thursday to give the school the cheque for the donation and check out the new playground floor.
“We’re just so thankful to Kal Tire,” said Katie McElgunn Jonas, physical education teacher at the school, who applied for the grant.
“To just donate $20,000 to our school was such a big deal.”
Getting rid of the wood chips in exchange for the rubber flooring makes the playground equipment a lot safer for the children, who used to get wood chips in their shoes which would result in slivers, McElgunn Jonas explained.
The Kal Tire program RePlay Fund awards grants for the use of recycled rubber products to enhance community infrastructure and accessibility.
Since 2019, Kal Tire has supported recycling millions of pounds of scrap tires to build inclusive playgrounds, accessible public spaces, durable roofing products, sanitary flooring, and more.