T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Melbourne Playground Project committee members Beth Opperman, Jessica Horn and Kelsey Bracy stand in front of the area that will soon be filled with new equipment as they near their fundraising goal.

MELBOURNE — In an effort to leave a better community for their children, a trio of Melbourne mothers — Jessica Horn, Kelsey Bracy and Beth Opperman — are leading efforts to install new equipment at two separate playgrounds in the Meier Memorial Park/Little League fields area.

The first is the smaller of the two, with the old rundown equipment now completely removed and the area fenced off, and the group has already secured $33,000 of the needed $40,000 for the project and is working in conjunction with the Little Tikes corporation.

Horn, who serves as the assistant director at the Melbourne Public Library, said she got involved in the effort about two years ago.

“I have three kids of my own, so I’m super excited to do it. It’s been a couple years now since I took it over, and we’ve been doing small fundraisers here and there,” she said.

Acknowledging that she could use a little help, Horn brought Opperman, a Melbourne city councilwoman, mother of one and volunteer firefighter who works for Johnstone Supply, and Bracy, a mother of three who is employed with the Story County Medical Center in Nevada.

“We want to see our kids grow up and have something fun to play with,” Opperman said. “This (playground) kind of got sad after a while because there wasn’t a lot here.”

Horn added that the old equipment had been thrown around and broken, so something new was “definitely needed.” Fundraising initiatives are ongoing: last week, they held a meal with the Legion Riders at the Recreation Center, and a cookbook entirely comprised of recipes from Melbourne residents is being developed.

They’re also working on a calendar fundraiser to provide an opportunity for smaller contributions: a blank calendar for a month is posted, and people choose a corresponding date and donate the dollar amount — for example, $5 on May 5. Bracy said they’re working on offering rewards for those who donate to the calendar fundraiser like pool passes and coffee shop gift cards.

Once they have the equipment installed at the smaller park, the committee will move on to the larger park on the other side of the field, which is estimated to cost around $400,000. The city of Melbourne has committed funding for the projects to its 2025 and 2026 budgets, and the Community Foundation of Marshall County (CFMC) has provided a $7,000 grant for the smaller playground.

“I think it’ll be a huge improvement. There’s not much here in town for the kids to even do. They’ve got the pool in the summer, the ballparks and the parks. That’s it, really,” Horn said.

Donations can be made out to the city of Melbourne at City Hall, and anyone interested in following the project and future fundraising efforts can visit the Melbourne IA Community Playground Project Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587832349086.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.