BY STEVE MOCARSKY
A recent college graduate who made headlines for her accomplishment has organized a fundraiser on Friday to support Wilkes-Barre’s Special Needs Playground Project.
Lizzie Breznay, who has special needs of her own, as she lives with autism and depends on a wheelchair for mobility, is determined to see the playground project become a reality, her mother, Helene Breznay said in an email.
The Fabulous Friday Footlong Fundraiser will go on from noon to 6 p.m. at Torony’s Giant Hot Dogs in the Tuft Tex Complex, 1325 N. River Road, Plains Twp., according to a flier for the event.
Torony’s will donate a portion of food sales to the playground project. Additionally, there will be gift card raffles and giveaways, gift baskets and handmade items, including pot holder/hot pads that Lizzie made herself, that people could win at the event.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown announced an initiative to purchase and install specialized playground equipment at city parks for community members with special needs in March.
Brown appointed a committee to oversee fundraising and plans, and the initiative quickly mushroomed.
Since April, the committee has been working toward the more lofty goal of constructing an all-inclusive playground at Kirby Park at a possible estimated cost of $400,000, and also outfitting the city’s 17 other parks with some handicap-accessible playground equipment.
The city’s Community Development Block Grant budget has $100,000 set aside for handicap-accessible infrastructure work at city parks, and the city has advertised a request for proposals from engineers.
Breznay, who is non-verbal and uses an eye gaze device that transmits her thoughts to audible words, graduated from Luzerne County Community College with an associate degree in audio/video communications and a perfect 4.0 average in May. Her dream is to work in the field of broadcasting.
Contact the writer: smocarsky@citizensvoice.com; 570-821-2110
How to help
Here’s how you can support the City of Wilkes-Barre’s Special Needs Playground Project:
- Purchase food at Torony’s Giant Hot Dogs, 1325 N. River Road, Plains Twp., and/or purchase raffle tickets there between noon and 6 p.m. Friday. You can call ahead for takeout at 570-822-1067.
- Mail a check made payable to “The Luzerne Foundation” with “Wilkes-Barre Special Needs Playground Project” in the memo line, to Wilkes-Barre Special Needs Playground Project, Care of Wilkes-Barre City, 40 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711.
