Russellville Elementary School installs wheelchair-accessible playground after anonymous donation

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) -It was December 2021 when now Russellville Elementary principal Tiffany Warhurst received word that someone had anonymously donated $50,000 to her school. The donor only had one request for the money and that was to put it toward students with special needs.

Warhurst said that is exactly what school leaders did and now a new wheelchair-accessible playground is almost ready to go.

“The person that donated this will never know truly how much this means to our students and to our faculty here,” Warhurst said.

The only thing left to do is pour concrete for wheelchairs to roll across. That’s coming in just a few days, meaning the playground will be ready for students on their first day back this fall and one family is already expressing their gratitude.

Joel Davis, the father of Russellville Elementary 3rd grader Noah Davis who uses a wheelchair, says they are beyond grateful to the anonymous donor and sees this as a blessing.

“There’s 600 kids here at [Russellville Elementary School] and out of the 600 kids there’s only just a few of those kids that are in wheelchairs and yet someone saw Noah’s need and was willing to meet that need and we’re more excited than we could ever imagine,” Joel said.

Noah got a sneak peek of the new playground and Joel said while they were checking it out, Noah voiced a prayer he says every night with his family all on his own.

Joel said that this donor has set an example he wants to follow and hopes it will inspire others as well.

“If we put as much thought into those people as this anonymous donor has put into my Noah and kids like my Noah and we’re able to give what we’re able to give, we may be able to make a difference in somebody else’s life by living the example that that person made in ours,” Joel said.

As for Noah, he has one thing to say to the donor.

“Thank you!” Noah said.

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