Vittoria foundation donates playground equipment to Schafer House

A $2,000 donation from the Vittoria & District Foundation Inc. was used to purchase four new pieces of playground equipment for Schafer House, a multi-unit residential housing development for Ukrainian refugees and new immigrants, west of Delhi.

“Isn’t it great for the kids?” said Jennifer Rodger from Port Dover, who helped connect Schafer House with the Vittoria & District Foundation. Rodger has played a key role in assisting newcomers through the Norfolk Support for Ukrainian Refugees site on Facebook.

New climbing domes and a slackline were installed August 12, joining the trampoline (donated by a Delhi resident), young children’s playset and adjacent soccer field, serving nine Ukrainian children ages 18-months to 16 years, and their friends and families that visit from Simcoe, Delhi and area.

“It’s kind of fun,” said 12-year-old Denys Tanasiuk, already proficient on the trampoline. “It’s so good for kids – and for me, too.”

“When this stuff arrived, all the kids came over and they were so helpful when we were putting it all together,” said Olha Diletchuk, building manager at Schafer House, which was created by Mike and Sandy Kloepfer, owners of Titan Trailers, a manufacturer of custom transport trailers based in Delhi.

“We had something for the little kids, and now we have everything,” said Diletchuk. “We are really grateful. They were waiting for this equipment for a long time to play together, to do stuff together.”

Vittoria & District Foundation Inc., formed in 1997, holds a fundraising auction and spaghetti dinner in March, which annually sells out the Vittoria & District Community Center with just over 300 people every year.

“We’re starting up again in 2024,” said Joan Norman, one of about five Vittoria foundation originals. “Tickets usually go on sale in January and within 4-6 weeks we’re sold out. They come to support the community.

“We have some young members and we’d like to get more young members,” Norman added.

The Vittoria foundation, which currently has more than 200 members, distributes its funds across its district through applications accepted in November and April.

“Over the course of years we have distributed tens of thousands of dollars to the hospital, we support the Norfolk Music Arts Festival, we have the Roger Cruickshank scholarship ($2,500) to a graduating high school student. This (Schafer House) playground equipment is for our latest recipient.”

Norman said the playground equipment was appealing because it benefitted children, and even more, a group of children new to the country.

“They are new to the area and hopefully this makes them feel a little bit more welcome. They’ve got an amazing amount of room to grow here, lots of equipment, other games they can play, lots of good shade trees. It just seems like a really good spot.”

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