Dragon Hollow Playarea will be closed for refurbishment and expansion from now until Saturday, May 24. Hundreds of volunteers are still needed to turn Dragon Hollow into an all-abilities playground. Executive Director Theresa Cox says volunteers of all skill levels are needed from Wednesday, May 15, through Monday, May 20.

“Originally, we thought we needed about 2,300, but it looks like we really need about 2,000,” Cox said. “We have maybe 750 of those. We really need a lot more people to get the work done out there. We are particularly short on week nights and all day on the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday.”

The shifts are only about four hours long. They are providing free, licensed child-care at Southgate Mall and the Missoula Early Learning Center. They have also arranged for lunch and dinner each day. According to Cox, it is extremely important that volunteers are willing to commit ahead of time.

“I also know there are a lot of people out there who have said, ‘Well yeah, I am going to come down, but I don’t want to commit to a certain time’ and that is really uncomfortable for us,” Cox said. “We need to know that we have at least a minimum number of volunteers at each time or we really don’t quite know what we are going to do about it. We could use people who are willing to commit, willing to come down and make this work for the kids.”

Volunteers must be at least 12 years old to be on the site, and 16 or over to be in the construction area. Cox says they desperately need tools as well.

“One of the things we need is 65 drills,” Cox said. “We have to ask a lot of people if they will loan us their drills, ladders, screwdrivers, and all sorts of other things so we can make sure we stay busy and productive while we are out there. We do promise that we will make sure that we return tools in the same condition in which we received them. If something breaks, we will get it fixed or replaced, whatever we need to do so that the person that loaned us that tool is happy.”

It is easy to sign up to help. Go to SaveTheDragonMT.com and click on the VOLUNTEER button. The site also has a TOOLS NEEDED button. If you are unable to access the site, please call the Carousel at 549-8382 to tell them when you can help or what tools you can lend.

More From Newstalk KGVO 1290 AM & 98.3 FM