Merrickville Day Nursery School (MDNS) is selling rain barrels over the next month to raise money for a new shade structure for their playground. The daycare is partnering with an organization called RainBarrel.ca which reclaims food grade barrels and repurposes them as rain barrels. They help stage fundraisers for not-for-profit organizations across Canada where a minimum of $10 of the sale of each rain barrel goes to support the not-for-profit.

Rain barrels collect rainwater from roofs and store it for watering gardens, lawns, shrubs and trees. Not only is it a free source of water that can be used in the dry summer months, but it is also the best type of water to use for gardening as is doesn’t contain chlorine and fluoride that is often found in tap water. RainBarrel.ca offers all kinds of re-purposed rain barrels, accessories and even composters starting at $55, which is about half the retail price of a typical rain barrel.

MDNS is a not-for profit charitable organization that opened its doors in 1987 to provide care for children from birth to age 12. Vice President of the Board of Directors, Krista Smith, says that as a not-for-profit daycare, they rely heavily on donations and fundraisers to make ends meet. While they often fundraise for things like fieldtrips, materials/toys, and improvements to the building, this fundraiser is being held to raise money to erect a shade structure over their playground to help protect the children from the elements when they are playing outside. “Especially with COVID, I think it’s really heightened our awareness of air quality and being outdoors,” Krista says. “Now as the weather gets even nicer, they’re going to spend even more time outside and they’re going to try and do a lot of programming outside that they would usually do inside.”

Krista says the Board would love to raise $1000 to pay for a portion of the shade structure that they hope to have in place this Summer. As the only daycare in Merrickville, many families have ties to MDNS, and Krista believes it is a very worthwhile organization to support. “I feel very comfortable sending my kids there and I think they could use all the help they can get just to make it even better than it already is.”

Rain barrels can now be purchase online at www.RainBarrel.ca/mdns/. The deadline to place an order is April 16. Merrickville-Wolford council has waived the rental fee for the community centre so that it can be used as a storage and pick up location for the fundraiser. Rain barrels will be ready for pick up on Saturday, April 24 from 9am-12pm and COVID protocols will be in place to ensure the process is safe for all involved.

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