By Brian Ojanpa
NORTH MANKATO — Kristy Olson won a day-care provider lottery of sorts and on Wednesday collected her payoff: 3 tons of sand.
More accurately, four volunteers arrived from the Twin Cities to tote the pile she purchased from her driveway to a large sandbox outside her North Mankato home.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Olson said of her good fortune. “I couldn’t find any landscapers to do this, and I didn’t want to ask friends to do it.”
The sand moving and filling — Olson estimates it would have cost her $450 to hire it out — was performed by volunteers from Child Care WORKS, a statewide advocacy organization working to achieve quality, affordable child care for families and communities.
Olson, who has been a day-care provider for 11 years, said replenishment of the depleted 12-by-16-foot sandbox is something she’s needed to do for years.
When she learned of the Child Care WORKS program to aid time- and cash-strapped care providers, she sent in her application.
“We received 120 applications. That just blew us away,” said Child Care WORKS events director Chris Breva-Erickson.
“This is a new project for us. We came up with it to help child care homes because people just can’t do some of the things they want to do because they work such long hours.”
Other applicants requested painting, plumbing and other facility upgrades. Breva-Erickson said Olson’s request won out because her application was solidly presented and she has made a significant investment in her day care.
“And, frankly, a sandbox sounded like fun,” Breva-Erickson said.
The volunteers, manning shovels and wheelbarrows, spent about two hours filling the sandbox.
