A heartwarming fundraiser took place Monday on Milwaukee's south side as supporters gathered to build Stella's Playground, an inclusive space designed for children of all abilities.
In May, a volunteer group launched a campaign to build Stella's Playground at Kilbourn Reservoir Park in the Riverwest neighborhood.
The project is inspired by Stella Schneider, a young girl who battled a cancerous brain tumor and is working to regain her abilities.
Her parents, Bobby and Rese Schneider, are leading the community effort to create a playground that serves children with disabilities while bringing the entire community together.
"Stella's playground is a celebration of the community around Stella," Bobby said. "Stella had a cancerous brain tumor a few years ago, and so she's made progress in getting abilities back to be able to have fun and be an active kid. But we know that there's many kids around the community who still have many disabilities, and we want this playground to be a place for them, and it also is a great place for the community to come together."
The project became a life mission for Rese, who quit her job to focus on making the playground a reality.
"I think it became something for me personally, that I felt like I could do for my daughter, right? Because when she was going through her cancer journey, I realized I can't cure cancer. I can't make her walk again, I can't make her talk again. I can't do all those things," Rese said. "But when it was clear to me that this is something that we could do, as crazy as it sounds to build a playground, but this is something that we could do."
The community response has been overwhelming, with residents who supported the family throughout Stella's cancer treatment rallying behind the playground project.
Watch: Local family launches campaign for Milwaukee's first inclusive playground
"They've been there for us all through Stella's cancer treatment, and have been there, brought meals to us, supported us," Bobby said. "And when we said, hey, we promised Stella that we'd build her a playground, everybody rallied and everyone—everyone is helping out."
The City of Milwaukee has partnered with the family on the project. Joe Kaltenberg, Milwaukee Parks manager, said officials were enthusiastic about supporting the effort.
"This is an amazing project that the City of Milwaukee needs, and so when the opportunity was presented to us that we could partner in this effort, we were incredibly excited," Kaltenberg said.
Watch: Community rallies for inclusive playground inspired by young cancer survivor
The playground will feature a dragon theme, inspired by Stella herself, representing her courage and creativity. The conceptual design includes the dragon-themed playground as the main feature element.
Community engagement has been central to the project's development. The Schneiders collected drawings and ideas from local children to ensure the playground reflects the community's vision.
"This playground is inspired by Stella, but we really want this to be for the community and by the community, and so we need to have engagement events like this, so we can hear from the community," Rese said. "This is really important to us, that it's not just our dream, but it's a dream for everyone here in the community where everyone belongs."
For more information, visit the Stella's Playground website.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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