Schools
Culver's in Berwyn Teams up with SEOPCO to Help Irving Schoolyard Project
Ten percent of profits during October to go toward making a field at the Oak Park school a reality.
If you've ever wanted to dig into custard or watch a morsel of butter burger ooze from your lips, October might be the time to give your tastebuds a workout.
Culver's, 6943 Roosevelt Rd. in Berwyn has offered to donate 10-percent of its profits to the South East Oak Park Community Organization (SEOPCO).
SEOPCO in turn will donate the proceeds to the Irving Schoolyard Project.
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Just mention SEOPCO or the Irving Schoolyard Project when you go to pay for your goodies.
This is just one of a number of efforts organizers of this community project are taking to raise funds to build the field at the school.
Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
For over 50 years, the schoolyard at Washington Irving School has been paved in asphalt. But community members have sought to turn the 80,000 square feet of blacktop into a recreation area that will be a benefit to the entire community, project organizers said.
A volunteer effort seven years in the making has aimed to change all of that. The organizers behind the Irving Schoolyard Project envision an outdoor wonderland for use by the school's growing student population as well as the rest of the Oak Park community.
After years of surveys, workshops and public forums, the project's 60-plus volunteers looked for financial backing to finally get it done. But the ambitious venture carried a hefty price tag — they estimated $3.2 million.
The project though was turned back to District 97 last year with the system planning to sink $2.5 million into renovations at all of its playgrounds.
As of now, the school is looking at draft designs for the playground, which could start construction in the spring. And now they're into raising the funds to bring about the field as well, Irving's principal John Hodge said.
"It's an important component of the project," Hodge said. "It'll make it even more of a community asset. We just keep plugging away."
Other efforts to raise money include a 5-percent day at Whole Foods Market in River Forest when 5-percent of the profits that day will benefit the project.
Autre Monde Cafe, a restaurant in Berwyn owned by Oak Parkers, donated 10 percent of its proceeds in March.
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