Local Businessman With Heart Of Gold Makes Donation To Southold School Play Structure

SOUTHOLD, NY — A local business owner with a heart of gold has just donated funds to help the Southold School district move forward in its mission to create a Mother Goose Shoe play structure.

In yet another "very generous donation" to support communities throughout the North Fork, Charles Reichert of The Charles and Helen Reichert Family Foundation has just contributed to the Southold School Education Foundation, or SSEF, to help build the Mother Goose Shoe play structure; his will now allow an anonymous matching donation that was pledged in October 2016 to be realized, SSEF members said.

“This is an incredibly wonderful degree of support from The Charles and Helen Reichert Family Foundation that will help get us much closer to making this project go from a dream to a reality," Bob Boergesson, president of the SSEF, said.

While the actual donation amount was not disclosed, Southold Schools Superintendent David Gamberg said fundraising began nine months ago, and includes "a variety of private contributions, including a $12,000 anonymous donation that is separate from the Reichert family contribution."

A total of $29,000 has been raised from various sources out of the $34,000 needed for the project.

Gamberg turned to GoFundMe in September, 2016 to help raise funds for the new school project, "Restoring Play to Childhood."

On the page, Gamberg quoted Rousseau: "You will never accomplish your design of forming sensible adults unless you begin by making playful children.”

The words, Gamberg wrote on the page, are as true today "as they were 233 years ago in 1783 when Rousseau wrote about education."

To that end, Southold Schools have embarked on an "ambitious goal to create a “Magical Playscape,” designed to stimulate imaginative and healthy play for children, students of the 21st century, Gamberg said.

"Unlike an overemphasis on standardized testing, this is a way to lay a strong foundation for the skills and dispositions that will serve our students and communities well, now and in the future."

Gamberg invited the community to check out a video "that paints a portrait of our playscape with a plan to add a one of a kind design element—a giant 12-foot tall, larger than life Mother Goose Shoe play structure."

The GoFundMe, Gamberg said, was commenced not only to raise funds for the play structure, "but also to spread the message worldwide about the importance of play in the human development of all children. As you will see, our playground is a place to run, sing, dance, perform skits in an outdoor stone amphitheater, and dig in sandboxes."

He added that the playground also includes a 6,000 square foot garden, "nurtured by our students, that grows hundreds of pounds of fresh, healthy produce each and every year with an endless amount of learning opportunities. With the addition of the Mother Goose Shoe, students will have an inspirational place to read, create, imagine and dream alongside a magical fairy-tale structure."

The Southold School Educational Foundation is a 501(c3) non-profit organization created to support the Southold School community in a variety of ways, Gamberg said.

"Our overall mission is to provide an avenue for funding innovative ideas that will enrich the education of our students as well as bring our parents, students, alumni, and town citizens together as one community supporting Southold School District. It is our goal to restore play as the centerpiece of childhood learning. We hope you will join us."

It's not the first time Reichert has opened his heart to the Southold community.

In September, Reichert and his wife Ellen donated $340,000 to the Southold Police Department for upgrades to the department's dispatch room and radio communication upgrades.

"We received an extremely generous donation from the Charles and Helen Reichert Foundation," as a result of concerns for public safety in Southold, Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the generosity has long been a hallmark of Reichert's. A few years ago, the supervisor said, a generator was needed for the Peconic School, and Reichert stepped up; the same thing happened when the town needed a handicapped accessible ramp and the renovation of a gazebo.

The $340,000 donation, Flatley said, covered the entire cost of the radio system upgrade project.

Lead photo, video courtesy of Southold Schools.

Patch courtesy photo of Charles Reichert.