Help me build a Recreational Park

I retired from the United States Air Force a few years ago. I’m now a disabled veteran living overseas helping out the local community wherever I can. I love working with my hands, so I enjoying gardening, carpentry work, and anything else my body will still allow me to do. I have time on my hands, but lack of funds. I love serving the community by volunteering my time and skills to make the world a better, cleaner, environmentally friendly place. I hope you will help me with the projects I choose to reach those goals.

Your donation will build a recreation park for a local community in Tomuk, Turkey (Near Mersin). It will enhance the lives of hundreds of people to include displaced Syrian refugees. This project will have a positive environmental impact as hundreds of trees and plants will be cultivated.

I have been working for the last year trying to get permission from the local government to “green up” this plot of land (see photos). The land is considered “Treasure Land” and is protected by the Turkish Government. However, the government is currently doing nothing with the land. I was recently given rare permission to “green up” the land to make a recreation park and they are actually providing topsoil as well. But nothing else.

I have several goals in mind for this project:

First: Level and grade the land. I have found a local heavy earth moving operator who works for 150 Turkish Lira (TL) per hour, which equates to about $26 US dollars per hour. I believe it will take no more than four hours to complete this, so roughly $100 US Dollars. (I know! It is so cheap over here!)

Second: Water and grass seed. I can buy the PVC piping and there is a local water source near by. Installing a simple sprinkler system is straight forward enough. I will spread the seed as I have a little spreader I can use. This should cost no more than $150 US Dollars.

Third: Trees and Plants. Over the past year I have been cultivating trees and plants from seeds. (See Photos). I just need some equipment and labor to put them in the ground. Labor is extremely cheap over here, so this goal should only be $50 US Dollars.

Fourth: Picnic Tables. Last year I was able to get a local saw mill to donate pine. I have been working that wood into some picnic tables. So far I have four ready to go. I am also trying to repair a few rotted tables from another neighboring park (see photos). I just need paint and I’m short on a bit of lumber. From what I have priced out the primer, paint, all weather sealer will cost $350 US Dollars and I need about $50 US Dollars worth of pine to finish the other tables. Total for this goal is $400 US Dollars.

Fifth: Children’s Play Ground. This is the big-ticket item. I believe I can install the playground myself with a little local labor help. From what I have seen locally play grounds go from anywhere from $1000 to $2000 US Dollars. I will set my goal low and hope it is exceeded. There is a lot of Syrian Refugee families in this area and I see them walking around with not much to do for their kids. The closest park is about a mile away, so it would be nice to do something positive for the local community.

Grand total for this project is $1,700 US Dollars, anything over this figure will go into a larger children’s park and equipment.