This is about much more than another wonderful memorial for a deceased local hero, Vicky Soto.
This is about the playground at Longbrook Park, which will have new equipment installed June 14 and be renamed Victoria Soto’s Playground, being part of a succession of kind acts — acts that began in New York and New Jersey after the 9-11 attacks and spread to Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and now are continuing around Connecticut and beyond as people respond to the Dec. 14 Newtown killings.
This is about “paying it forward,” in the words of Amy Wiltsie, the wife of Soto’s cousin Jim Wiltsie, both of Stratford. After you have been helped, you move the kindness forward by helping another person. Then that recipient of the kindness is moved to help another person.
This progressive charity started with the Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association (FMBA) in New Jersey, whose members worked to rescue victims at the World Trade Center, receiving an expression of appreciation from a young girl in Mississippi.
The firefighters returned the kind favor to the girl and to the Gulf states after the loss of more than 1,800 lives in Katrina. Specifically, the firefighters traveled to the Gulf and installed new playgrounds for the children — the first three playgrounds in Mississippi with no boundaries to the disabled.
With that project began Pennies for Playgrounds as a means of raising funds — not for what was already installed but for the installation of playgrounds in the future. Any money raised would “pay it forward” and move the kindness onward to benefit others.
Victims of Superstorm Sandy were the next beneficiaries of the paying it forward concept. The firemen’s association in New Jersey installed playgrounds in towns ravaged by the storm. With that effort, the FMBA expanded Pennies for Playgrounds into the Sandy Ground Project Where Angels Play.
Stratford is a link in the charity chain
The extension of kindness came to Stratford through a connection between a New Jersey firefighter and a Connecticut firefighter who, through no small chance, had a connection to Newtown.
The Sandy Ground Project is now working with family members of each of the Dec. 14 victims, including the Sotos, and is building a memorial playground for each victim in a place chosen by the family.
The Sotos selected Longbrook Park, adjacent to Stratford High School’s Penders Field, because, according to Amy Wiltsie, “Stratford High School was the biggest thing for Vicky. She spent a lot of time here in the park.” They have also chosen Soto’s favorite color, pink, for the playground equipment.
“You can’t have anything better than a playground where there is kids’ laughter,” Wiltsie said. “Playgrounds are about innocence and fun. This is the most family-friendly place to congregate and have fun.”
Victoria Soto’s Playground will be the fifth in the string of 26 playgrounds stemming from the tragedy. Donations made for the first playground paid for the second playground. Monies surrounding the second paid for the third. Paying it forward in action.
So it was the playground recently installed in Old Saybrook as part of the Sandy Ground Project that will pay for the Soto playground here. Donations for the Soto playground are being collected to keep the project moving forward, so that Stratford’s fund raising will create a sixth playground.
Steve Lupinacci, a retired Stratford firefighter who is associated with the project and who is assisting the Sotos with the local effort, said, “Twenty-six could become 2,600 or 26,000” as the goodness continues.
Gaining local support
The Stratford community’s support of the Sandy Ground Project Where Angels Play will become real in many different ways, and one of those ways is that Stratford Public Schools has allowed a jug for pennies and other donations in each school until June 13.
“I love the penny fund-raiser,” Wiltsie said. “Vicky had a thing for pennies. She always spotted pennies and collected pennies.”
Cousins of Victoria Soto, Raegan, Ryann, Amy and Jack Wiltsie, all of Stratford, in Longbrook Park where a new playground will be installed in honor of the slain local hero.
Wiltsie’s daughter, 10-year-old Ryann, a fourth grader at Wilcoxson School, said, “The pennies make me think things are getting better, and more people will feel safe. We’re trying to make happy things out of bad things that happened.”
Her mother chimed in, “It’s about healing. This is part of the healing process.”
Wiltsie and Lupinnaci agreed that Soto would be in favor of the playground project, because “it’s about the children.”
The installation of the new playground at Longbrook is “about the community of Stratford,” Lupinnaci said. “Stratford has always been a supportive community.”
Residents are invited to attend the playground installation at 8:30 a.m. on June 14. On hand will be Stratford public works, police, EMS, fire, State Police, school officials and representatives from the mayor’s office, all of whom have been very supportive of the project, according to Lupinnaci.
Supporters are also encouraged to go to TheSandyGroundProject.org and make a donation or buy a T-shirt, wristband or sweatshirt.
Further, organizers are encouraging businesses to create any sorts of fund-raisers, all in Stratford’s effort to keep the good paying forward.