Shelly Vincent remembers when Evergreen Park on Fourth Plain Boulevard was covered in undergrowth and riddled with crime and drug activity.
The scene looks very different now, thanks in large part to the McClaskey Family Foundation Summer Playgrounds Program that on Friday celebrated its 10th anniversary at the park where Vincent works.
“This was a park you drove past because it had a bad reputation,” Vincent said. “It’s a lot safer when we’re around” when the park is full of kids.
Though Vincent, 27, said she occasionally sees graffiti and drunks wandering through the park, the presence of staff and kids participating in the summer program has helped push that activity away during the day.
Some of the staff members and volunteers are even former kids in the program, added Vincent, who has worked in the program from the beginning.
Angel Rojas, 10, is spending his second summer at the park program, walking for five minutes every weekday to play with his friends.
“We have soccer, arts and crafts and a lot of fun stuff,” he said.
“We have good food,” he said while eating an apricot, one of the healthy items on the menu along with wraps, sandwiches and more, paid for by a USDA grant.
The staff are paid for primarily by donors, mainly the McClaskey Family Foundation, which donates $26,000 a year to the program, which is also held at two other sites in Vancouver: Crestline Elementary School and Hough Elementary School.
Mayor Tim Leavitt championed the program 10 years ago, when he served on the Vancouver City Council, by gathering money from the state and private donors. Leavitt came to the celebration Friday and was recognized by the staff and kids. To thank him, they made Leavitt a hand-painted banner.
Leavitt grew up in north Vancouver and participated in a similar program when he was 10, which he remembers fondly. He took the bus to Leverich Park with his brother when he moved to Vancouver as a kid. He wanted to give kids the same opportunity.
“I have a special affinity to the program because I was once one of them,” he said.
Leavitt’s mayoral post is up for election this year, but he decided not to run.
“Given that this is his outgoing year, we want to give a big thanks to Tim,” said Dave Perlick, recreation program manager.
Leavitt held a Q&A with the kids, and one of them asked, “Who’s running for mayor now?” Leavitt replied by mentioning candidate Anne McEnerny-Ogle, who was in the audience.
“Tell your parents that you met the next mayor of Vancouver,” Leavitt said.
McEnerny-Ogle, a city councilor, passed out apricots to kids earlier during the event, earning her the name “Apricot Anne,” by some of the staff.
Most of the kids didn’t know what an apricot was. “It’s like a small peach,” she said to some of them.
