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Metal = money for Esquimalt elementary school

Macaulay looking for scrap donations to help build outdoor amenities
scrapmetal2
Fundraising is underway to pay for a new outdoor classroom and pedestrian walkway at Macaulay elementary. Tina Neale

Passionate parents of Macaulay elementary students are hoping to turn metal scraps into an outdoor classroom and pedestrian walkway.

It’s no magic trick.

Rather, the transformation will be made possible thanks to a scrap metal fundraising drive launched for the first time by the Macaulay Parent Advisory Council earlier this month.

Previous fundraising projects have allowed parent volunteers to sock away $20,000 for the $30,000 project.

The goal is to install a hard-packed gravel pathway along the westerly edge of the school grounds, possibly within the next school year.

It will provide parents and kids with a dry alternative to using a muddy sports field in wintertime, and encourage more people to walk and cycle to school.

The path will also encourage people to access the school grounds from Lyall Street, rather than from Macaulay Street and Wychbury Avenue, which are both very congested before and after school.

“It’s been an ongoing safety concern,” said Tina Neale, president of the Macaulay PAC.

The scrap metal drive will also help pay for the installation of large boulders and a sandy area to serve as an outdoor classroom and play space.

“So far we have raised about $3,500 from the (first) two collection days we’ve had and we have diverted over 36,000 pounds of metal from the garbage,” Neale said.

Scrap metal – everything from barbecues, bicycles and some appliances, to chairs, pots and pans, and nuts and bolts – has been dropped off adjacent to the Esquimalt public safety building.

With the help of firefighters, parent and youth volunteers have been separating the metals, destined for Steel Pacific in Victoria.

The Macaulay PAC will next look to replace a wooden playground at the school.

emccracken@vicnews.com

Final drop-off day

• Drop off unwanted scrap metal on Saturday (May 26), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., next to Esquimalt’s public safety building at 500 Park Pl. Propane tanks, fridges and freezers are not permitted. Email macaulaypac@yahoo.ca for details.