“But the community’s support (enabled us) to build this whole playground just in her memory. With his wife, Vanessa, at his side holding their 8-month-old son, Darryl, and the couple’s other daughters, Hallie, 4, and Ellena, 3, playing nearby, Matt Cara admitted that working with the foundation on projects in his daughter’s memory can be tough. Future sites include the LaRock Recreation Area in Sugarloaf Township, a site in Kline Township and another at Weston Park in Black Creek Township. He said the foundation board hopes to complete one or two playgrounds each year. It’s our intention to build playgrounds all across the Greater Hazleton area in any community that needs one.” Our community has been … I can’t tell you how amazing with what they’ve done.”Įarly said that instead of re-doing one playground, “we thought it would be better to form a foundation and create a true living legacy for Ryanne’s life. “Almost 600 people sent us cards with money in them.

And then we had a festival and ended up with $100,000,” said John’s wife, Debbie. “We expected maybe a couple hundred dollars donated when my granddaughter died, and ended up with 60-some-thousand.

We just wanted to put up some swings and stuff for them.” John Cara, Ryanne’s grandfather, said a fundraiser last year “started out as a simple thing. The community kicked in with donations, and on Monday, the family and foundation members gathered at the park to announce the dedication of a new playground there this Sunday.

Now, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the community that reached out to Ryanne’s family after her death, many other children will be able to enjoy playing on new or refurbished slides and swings at Whispering Willows and - in years to come - other parks and playgrounds throughout Greater Hazleton.īrian Earley, a friend of the Cara family and president of the Remembering Ryanne Cara Foundation, said the family wanted to fund a new playground at the park in Ryanne’s memory after her death. Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.ĬONYNGHAM - Four-year-old Ryanne Cara loved to climb, slide and swing at the playground in Whispering Willows Park before a rhinovirus claimed her life in 2015.

Whispering Willows instal the new