Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

It has been over a year since a group of volunteers started a GoFundMe account with a passion for improving the Kenbridge community and its recreation center.

The committee is hoping to raise $20,000 through the GoFundMe account.

In a November 2020 interview, Kenbridge Vice-Mayor Wanda Morrison said the recreation center located at 533 E. Fifth Avenue needs to be refurbished.

As of Monday, Dec. 20, the committee has raised close to $3,000 with its GoFundMe account.

Late last week, Kenbridge Town Manager Tony Matthews sent out an announcement to citizens via email expressing the need for donations.

Matthews said if businesses or individuals are looking to donate to a cause during the holidays, the recreation center would be a good place to start.

“Do you have an interest in the Town Gym, in youth sports, in community health and recreation, in preserving history,” Matthews wrote. The Kenbridge Recreation Center is asking for help as we try to revamp the gym for all ages to use and keep it a part of

all of our heritage.”

According to Matthews, the town hopes to begin soon with projects once there are enough funds.

“We are looking for enough money to have a full-scale renovation,” Morrison said. “We want to have a place for seniors, kids and everyone in between to have a place they can use for events and activities.”

Morrison said items such as painting, heating and air system upgrades, refurbish/cleaning of floors, replacing windows updating lighting, bathrooms, and general work to put in shelving for storage needs to be done.

“The gym is an old building built in the 1950s,” Morrison said. “There has not been enough utilization of financial income to pay for the upkeep of the building over the years.”

Having a place where community members can join for events and activities is not the only reason the group is hoping to refurbish the center.

There is history.

“The Kenbridge Recreation Center, also known as Kenbridge Gym, is a part of the history of Kenbridge,” Morrison said. “This is the only stand-alone gym in the area that is not part of a school. It is a community-based place for all people in the community.”

A donation can be made via the Kenbridge Recreation Center’s GoFundMe page at https://gf.me/u/y7mzfg.