City highlights Parks & Rec intern and new Hope Homemakers playground built with Amway support

At the Aug. 11 Kentwood City Commission meeting the commission heard a non‑agenda presentation from a Parks & Recreation summer intern and commissioners used their closing comments to highlight a new playground at Hope Homemakers Park built with corporate and philanthropic support. A summer recreation therapy intern, Kylie, told the commission she ran adaptive cycling, adaptive golf, bowling and helped with water skiing during her internship and that she will return to Grand Valley as a senior studying recreational therapy. "To try new things ... you just jump in and you start doing things and you make a difference in people's lives," Kylie said. In commissioner comments several members praised Parks & Recreation staff and the Amway Corporation for contributing to construction of an "amazing" new playground at Hope Homemakers Park and attended a ribbon cutting. One commissioner noted the playground's rapid assembly and neighbors' enthusiasm. Commissioners said the playground work was enabled by a recently passed millage plus additional philanthropy the city expected to raise over time; one commissioner estimated that inflation may raise philanthropic needs from an earlier $6,000,000 estimate to a larger amount over a 20‑year period. No formal action, bids or budget appropriations for the playground were recorded during the meeting; commissioners expressed gratitude to staff, volunteers and corporate partners and encouraged continued partnerships for future parks projects.