In memory of Nikita Victoria Belykh, her family alongside Ruskoka Camp have decided to work together in an effort to make Nikitas friends and other kids happy by building a playground in her honor. Ruskoka is lucky enough to have had Nikita be a part of our camp family, as she spent the summer of 2021 there, just two weeks before the tragedy. We hope to honor her by building something that she would have loved, and although she will never play on this playground, it warms our hearts that other kids will. The Ruskoka team and volunteers started the project last fall but need financial support to complete it. A plan of the project along with progress can be found on the Ruskoka website. Donations can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/f/nikita-for-friend
Phase 1 – Ruskoka : Spring to Fall 2022 – Clear Area, remove all roots, and preliminary leveling. ($5,000 for equipment rental)
Phase 2 – Ruskoka : Spring 2023 – Deliver, spread, and compact gravel. ($50,000 for fill and equipment rental)
Phase 3 – CSS : Fall 2023 – Final grading and asphalt surface ($30,000 for asphalt)
Phase 4 – CSS : Spring 2024 – Color coating ($25,000)
Phase 5 – CSS: Spring 2024 – Purchasing all sports accessories ($10,000)
Progress
Fall 2021:
Designed and planned the construction of the playground
Cleared the construction area (small trees and brush) for the playground
Fall 2022:
To date volunteers, working rain, shine, or snow, have cleared 7200 square feet of forest! This has included cutting down trees, cutting and splitting logs, chipping tens of thousands of feet of branches, and spreading thousands of square feet of wood chips around Ruskoka’s property.
Our next steps will include bringing in excavation equipment, to remove the stumps and start on some preliminary leveling. This will be followed by the delivery, spreading, and compacting of 50 dump trucks of gravel and fill to level and build a solid foundation for the play surface to sit on.
