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MacDonald Training Center organizing fundraiser

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 30, 2009

PLANT CITY - Area volunteers and officials at the MacDonald Training Center are working on a fundraiser to help the disabled adults served by the organization.

The training center is hoping to raise at least $15,000 by selling tickets for a drawing for a children's playhouse that will probably be worth $4,000 to $6,000. Second prize is a $500 gift certificate for the Red Rose Inn and Suites in Plant City and MacDonald officials are working on a third prize.

Tickets will be sold for $5 each and go on sale in early August, said Veronica Prostko, director of external affairs at the MacDonald Training Center and project organizer.

Students at Simmons Career Center in Plant City will build the playhouse.

John Alleman, a teacher at Simmons Career Center, and Central Florida Construction Co. owners and project sponsors, Jimmy and Annie Carapezza, are designing the playhouse.
The playhouse, which will be designed with a peaked roof and about an 8-foot base, will be rigidly constructed and designed to code for outdoor use, members of the fundraising committee said.

"Taking a project from an idea to a finished custom playhouse will be a great learning experience for the students at Simmons," Prostko said. "Their involvement in the project will enhance their skill levels, help prepare them for future employment and add to their life experience."

MacDonald Training Center CEO Jim Freyvogel sees many benefits in the project for the center, which operates James Ranch, a training facility for disabled adults off Cork Road in Plant City.

"By offering something of great value for a small donation, the playhouse project will give us an opportunity to inform people in the community about the MacDonald Training Center in general, and the students and programs at our James Ranch facility in particular," Freyvogel said. "Working with friends in the community to benefit individuals with disabilities will encourage us all."

The tickets will be sold countywide by committee members and through the center's Web site, www.macdonaldcenter.org.

For information, call Prostko at (813) 870-1300, Ext.301

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 731-8161.

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