Florence Bank Donates $3,000 for Playground

FLORENCE — Florence Bank recently donated $3,000 to the Westhampton Elementary School to assist with the construction of a wooden train, as part of the school’s playground.

The school has 150 students in preschool through grade 6. The playground serves school children and is also available for community use after school and on weekends. When the school was built in 1990, the construction included a wooden play structure and wooden train. In 2014, the Parents Teachers Organization (PTO) in conjunction with the school worked to purchase and install a new main play structure, as the original one had fallen into disrepair. At the same time, they sought to replace the original train, which had been built by inmates at the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction in Northampton. PTO and school officials recently learned that the inmates were once again able to build the train at their wood shop, and all they would need to construct the new train was the necessary lumber. Florence Bank responded to the request from the Westhampton Elementary School PTO Board, and upon learning that the cost of the lumber to build the structure was nearly $3,000, they donated the funds to the PTO. “We were pleased to be able to help the Westhampton Elementary School with this request,” said John F. Heaps Jr., president and CEO of Florence Bank. “We know that the project will benefit the school, and the greater community, and we hope that the train provides many years of creative play for the children of Westhampton.”