Fair Food Helps Build Playground

Getting some food at the fair could help out a good cause.

Good Wok is a regular at the Eastern Idaho State Fair, serving food for 35 years.

This year Good Wok is trying to do some good works.

“We wanted to do something this year to give back to the community,? owner of Good Wok, Mindy Hong, said.

The owners will give 20 percent of every purchase made on Tuesday to help fund Brooklyn’s Playground.

That is the effort in Pocatello to build a playground for kids of all abilities.

“I learned about giving back to the community from my dad, who was a really generous man. And as far as the playground, I think it’s really important for everyone to have an opportunity to play in a safe setting,? Hong said.

Brooklyn’s playground could use some fund raising help. The charity reached it’s original goal of $400,000, but now it looks like that just isn’t going to cut it.

“And, as it turns out, our estimates for the in-kind was a little high, and our estimates for the cash was a little low. so we had to push the cash goal up to about $530,000,? said Tim Forhan, President of Valley Pride, a company helping to create the playground.

Costs for some of the materials needed to make the playground safe, have skyrocketed.

?The entire area will be rubberized, and the price of oil has really gone up,? Forhan said.

Organizers of Brooklyn’s Playground said it is something the community really needs.

“In our area there is no playground that really is built with the idea of accommodating all children. And our thought is kind of, until you’ve build a playground for all children, you haven’t built a playground,? Forhan said.

Initial construction on the site for the playground has already begun.

The week of Sept. 19-24, hundreds of volunteers will be needed to construct the new playground.