This year Crossfit Pacific Coast’s 8th annual Strength to Give proceeds will be going to Gwendolyn’s Playground, Santa Barbara’s first all-inclusive playground. The event will be held Saturday, Oct. 5, at the downtown Santa Barbara gym.
Each year, Crossfit Pacific Coast (CPC) donates to a local nonprofit. In the past it has raised money for Bucket Brigade, C.A.L.M., and Girls Inc. This year the Crossfit gym chose the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation.
Gwendolyn’s Playground was inspired by Gwendolyn Strong, a tenacious Santa Barbara child born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). At six months old, Gwendolyn was diagnosed with SMA, for which there is no cure. Her battle with the disease was lost in 2014, when she was six years old, but her legacy lives on through her parents and the foundation.
The Strongs, who live in Santa Barbara, are working to see the all-inclusive playground come to fruition. When Gwendolyn was alive, there were no playgrounds in the region accessible to her wheelchair and needs.
“It was an easy choice for us to choose this nonprofit as its mission is so parallel to our own,” said Danielle Ivie, owner of Crossfit Pacific Coast. “Our gym welcomes all people of all levels and, afterall, Crossfit Pacific Coast is one big playground for us, so obviously we relate to the need for play.”
“Gwendolyn would love everything about this project — the creative and innovative design, the community support, and the joy that will come,” said Victoria Strong, Gwendolyn’s mother. “While she was profoundly physically disabled, on the inside Gwendolyn was just like all kids.
“Gwendolyn’s Playground will provide that opportunity to so many in our community that are being left out of this essential childhood experience.”
An all-inclusive playground will be one where all kids can play, particularly those with any disabilities that prevent them from playing in the average playground. There will be ADA ramps, sensory tunnels, an accessible swingset area, and benches with companion seating.
“Gwendolyn had such a powerful way of moving people to push themselves for the greater good,” Strong said. “To see it happening all over again makes me all the more aware that she was born with such a purpose in this world and I’m honored and uplifted that so many are helping to carry her legacy.
“Seeing our community enthusiastically rally to create a place that is truly for everyone is the very essence of why Santa Barbara is such a special place.”
— Becky Villaneda for Crossfit Pacific Coast.