2,300 Volunteers Are Needed To Help Refurbish and Expand Dragon Hollow

A Carousel for Missoula will oversee the refurbishment and expansion of the Dragon Hollow Playarea. Executive Director Theresa Cox says they are trying to turn Dragon Hollow into a truly inclusive place where children of all abilities feel welcome.

“When we built Dragon Hallow, we were told that the engineered wood fiber we used out there was accessible and it really is not,” Cox said. “We are going to put rubber pathway through about half of the playground and we will add a lot of really cool features that will accommodate children of all abilities. Just like when we first built Dragon Hollow back in 2001, this will be a community-built effort.”

They are in need of about 2,300 volunteers between noon on May 14^th and 5:00 p.m. on May 20^th. Cox says pretty much anyone can volunteer.

“When you sign up on the website, it will ask if you are skilled, meaning that you are comfortable using a circular saw,” Cox said. “If you are not comfortable using a circular saw, you would sign up as an unskilled worker. There is plenty of work for everybody. We need unskilled workers as much as we need skilled workers. You need to be 12 to be on the site and 16 to be working in the construction part of the site.”

Cox encourages folks to visit SaveTheDragonMT.com if they are interested in helping with the project.

“There are three buttons on there,” Cox said. “One of them is to donate to the project, one of them is to volunteer for the project and one of them is to let me know that you have tools we can use. We are asking people to bring tools that they will lend us for the duration of the build. We will make sure that the tools get back to them in as good of shape as they were delivered to us.”

To make it easier for families to help, Cox says they are offering free licensed child care at Southgate Mall and the Missoula Early Learning Center. In order to accommodate the upgrades, Dragon Hallow will be closed from May 8^th through May 24^th.