On Saturday, December 16th, the Four Hearts Foundation hosted its second annual “Santa Claus for a Cause” fundraiser at the Newport Car Museum in Portsmouth, R.I.. The foundation is working toward building an inclusive, adaptive and accessible playground for all abilities and all ages on Turnpike Avenue in Portsmouth. Kateri Chappell Buerman, who runs the foundation, stated: “The event was sold out with over 120 local families in attendance. It really is such a magical morning. It’s our absolute pleasure to bring this holiday event full of joy to the children of the community. It makes our hearts so full to see so many kids so happy.”
The morning was filled with activities from making reindeer food, special crafts, writing letters to Santa and more. Countless volunteers from kids4action, Island Art Spot, St.Philomena’s, St. Barnabas, Portsmouth Nursery School, McNiell Children’s Institute, Kelsea Godek Photography, BiteRI, Imagination Library and more made the event a true community effort. ”The Foundation has to raise about $25,000 more toward its almost $800,000 goal to build this playground complete with recycled rubber flooring and state of the art structures,” said Buerman, who urges anyone wishing to get involved to consider the playground in their end-of-year or early 2024 giving.
“The Foundation’s tag line is ‘let’s build a playground,’ and we are closer than ever and hoping for a Spring 2024 goal!,” added Buerman.
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