November 20, 2024

Rainbow Park get new playground equipment

By DENISE CASKEY

Mark Huff and Kyle Krantz install four bouncy riders in Rainbow Park in Creston. The new play equipment was donated by Mommies of Angels, a group aimed at providing healing, encouragement and understanding for those who have experienced the loss of a child. (CNA photo)

Through the combined efforts of the Southside Boosters and Mommies of Angels, new playground equipment was purchased and installed at Rainbow Park in recent weeks.

Mommies of Angels donated four colorful bouncy riders that have been installed on the east side of the park.

“We put in, I guess it’s been three years ago, all that big equipment as we wanted to include those bouncy riders at that time, but that stuff is pricey and our group is small,” said Mommies of Angels member, Amy Jo Lohoff. “It takes a long time for us to raise funds.”

Mommies of Angels is a support group for families who have lost a child in infancy. It was started by Lohoff and a couple of friends as a way to support other families grieving over the loss of a child.

“Anytime there was an infant death at the hospital, they would contact us, if the family wanted them to, and we would deliver boxes out there,” said Lohoff. “We really don’t do that anymore because the hospital has since stepped up its game tremendously and basically do all the things we were doing and that was the ultimate goal anyway.”

Since the hospital stepped up and filled the shoes of Mommies of Angels, Lohoff said the group can put its money and effort toward other things that benefit children.

“We just started giving back to anything in memory of kids,” said Lohoff. “We did some changing tables at all the parks and ball fields and then the playground equipment and a cuddle cot at the hospital. We donated one of those to OB. I haven’t heard of anybody using it. I don’t know if they use it, but we donated one, so there’s one out there.”

Rainbow Park is named in honor of the 42nd Infantry Division, nicknamed the Rainbow Division, who fought in World War I. It was chosen by Mommies of Angels as the site for the playground equipment because when a babies dies, the infant is referred to as a “rainbow baby,” Lohoff explained.

In addition to the bouncy riders donated by Mommies of Angels, there is a Mommy-and-Me swing installed at the north end donated by the Southside Boosters and a tetter totter purchased with money donated by the McNichols family in memory of an infant they lost.