Residents Rallying To Rebuild McKinley Park Playground

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Residents who live around McKinley Park say they will rebuild the part of the playground recently destroyed by arson.

The senseless act has triggered a strong response from the neighborhood surrounding it.

"This is a very special park for me," Scott Brill-Lehn said.

Out of the woodwork and wasting no time, there are efforts to rebuild.

"I had a little girl come by today with her piggy bank," said Councilman Steve Cohn, who represents East Sacramento.

Someone burned down the playground, which was built with donations 18 years ago, sometime over the weekend.

"In 1994 we built this playground with the help of the community and now that it needs it again, that's what we intend to do," Brill-Lehn said.

A Facebook page and website, eastsacgiveback.org, are up already gathering donations.

And then there are the more traditional fundraisers like at the neighborhood grocery store.

Compton's Market has joined a dozen retailers to help the rebuilding effort.

"The response has been huge," Tom Bennetts. "We've collected $2,000 in two days just in this store alone."

A playground torched to the ground. Now a new generation is carrying the torch to rebuild.

"We'll leave the police work to the police," Brill-Lehn said. "We just want to rebuild our playground."