LAKE SAINT
LOUIS,
Mo. -- Natalie Blakemore, a Mormon and BYU
grad, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to create "Zachary's
Playground" at Hawk
Ridge Park
-- a fully accessible community playground where her son and others with
disabilities could safely play.

Now the local community is
working to give something back to her family and Zachary.

The Lake Saint Louis Police
Officers Association and the Benevolent Society of Commodores have combined
efforts to raise money to retrofit the Blakemores' home so that Zachary can get
from room to room in his wheelchair.

Thus far, they have raised
$7,500 which will pay for new wood flooring, a lower bathroom sink and wider
doorways between the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom in the Blakemores'
three-bedroom home.

"The Blakemores have
given so much to our community, we should do everything we possibly can to make
their home as accessible for Zachary as Zachary's Playground is," City of
Lake Saint Louis Ward 2 Alderwoman Charlotte Norton
said.

Blakemore said it's surprisingly
hard to accept the community's offering.

"It is so much easier
to give than to receive," Blakemore said. "You just have to swallow
your pride."

Blakemore said Zachary, who
is now 9 years old and weighs 50 pounds, is getting harder to lift and it will
be nice to have more accessiblity.

It will also help to
decrease Zachary's dependence on his mother and father.

"He really wants to be
independent," said his mother. "He even wants to be assigned his own
share of chores like his sisters."

Zachary was diagnosed at 14
months with pelizaeus-merzbacher disease, a condition that affects his muscles
and his ability to support his head and limbs.

When his mother realized he
couldn't enjoy a simple day in the park like other children, she began a multiple-year
campaign to build a nearby park that accommodated him, his wheelchair and
children with a wide variety of physical disabilities.

The park, which took four
years to build, has inspired the communities of Clayton, St. Charles and
O'Fallon (where the Blakemores live) to develop their own such facilities.

"This is our most
successful park when it comes to the number of people who come every day,"
said Paul Markworth, the city
administrator, on a You Tube posting about the park's opening.

Contributions are still
being accepted, said Lake Saint Louis Police Detective Gary
McIntyre.

They can be mailed to the
Lake Saint Louis Police Officers Association, 121 Civic Center Drive, Suite 267, Lake
Saint Louis, MO 63367.

E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com

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