Now Open! Thank You to all our Supporters!
Welcome to The Shaw Family Playground!
We are spearheaded by the Sheboygan Park Project in partnership with the Sheboygan Jaycees to create a fully accessible ADA playground. Sheboygan County schools and parks currently have none. Our mission is to remove every barrier possible to allow each and every child the opportunity to experience unorganized, imaginative play alongside their peers on a safe and accessible playground. For many children, so often left on the sidelines, this will be their first experience at inclusive play and unrestrained FUN!
Watch this video to see how it all began!
Would you like to support our cause? Click here to help donate.
Why did 2 parents decide to embark on raising an insane amount of $$, dedicate countless exhausting hours on every detail,to gift a playground to our community?
Because 13 years ago on May 10th, Ryan and Angie Shaw gave birth to pyopagus conjoined twins.
The twins had a 5% chance for just 1 to survive. They are the first set of comjoined twin boys to survive in 50 years. The boys had other complications from their exposed spinal cords resulting in spina bifida/hydrocephalus. Their names : Mateo and McHale Shaw. The names are Spanish and Galaeic in origin to honor their ancestry and both mean gift of God in their respective languages.
This very community supported the family through an incredibly difficult time in their lives. They didn't listen to the doctors that told them to "start over." They choose the hard path, to trust in God. To leave everything and travel to D.C for nearly 9 months with NO income, to give their twins a small chance at life. God placed the people and resources in their path to sustain them. The local community welcomed them home with open,loving and accepting arms.
The family wanted to give back to the community that so generously supported them. They identified a need in the community, a task bigger than them. They knew the benifet it would have to everyone in our community, the benifet for every person to play and learn along side eachother, the benifet for people to see others that may look, talk and act different than them but to see them as people with feelings just like themselves. The family made a choice to trust that God wanted them to embark on something once again bigger than themselves. They made the choice to dive into this project with no experience, only hearts full of desire and ambition.
The journey to design the playground, the location, getting people on board - to think outside the box, the partnerships, the fundraising...it hasn't always been easy but it is worth it.
The playground has taken on its own life, the project expanded time and time again. We took on the restroom/shelter a year ago. We have an endowment set up to maintain the playground/restroom long term. The team is small working on this. It's mainly Angie and Ryan Shaw, Steven Schmitt, Bryan Casper and Sarah Schwefel. Each of these people the family didn't know before the project but have become near and dear to their hearts.
The individusls, groups, companies involved to accomplish this huge undertaking, are many and we will post more on that another time.
We still have about $200,000 we're in need to raise to complete all the extra work we took on. We are humbled and full of gratitude to every person who has personally worked on the project and to everyone who has donated, every dollar makes a difference. We hope you consider signing up for the angel run with us on June 8th to help us reach that goal. We know our community is capable of great things when we work together.
Thank you for your support on so many levels in our lives Sheboygan💛
Angie and Ryan Shaw
Do you know what inspired the playground? Did you know we have fundraised to build it ..and we're still in need of funds to finish it.
Leave us your thoughts on how it began/ what our inspiration was . We will update you this week 🙂
Don't forget to click like and share! Invite your friends to like our page too 🙂
Have you signed up for the run with Angels event? You CAN walk the event 🙂
Sign up today and leave us a gif in the comments to show us your support! Don't forget to like and share this. Thank you!
runwithangels.org/
If you have ordered an engraved fence picket after July 31st, they are NOT installed yet.
We will announce here when they are installed. We have a min quantity to reach before we order with our vendor( they were ordered) and we couldn't ask volunteers to install through this harsh winter.
If you ordered AND paid it will be installed. If you dont know if you paid please verify with your bank or through your personal paypal account. We don't send invoices and I won't be able to keep up if everyone emails me. I am sorry.
If I didn't respond to your email checking on your order that was sent after July, my sincere apologies. I truly appreciate your patience.
Thank you for your continued support!
Angie Shaw
Want your company logo on the Run with Angels shirts and on all the advertising material? Sponsorships start at $2,500 and up.
Email us today! shawfamilyplayground@gmail.com
We're in need of companies to be a sponsor for the run with Angels event on June 8th!
100% will go towards the Shaw Family Playground ( we're still short funding)
Thank you and have fun playing!