FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 8, 2005
 
Wal-Mart donates $5,000 for Bridge for Kids

Orting -- A Wal-Mart donation of $5,000 for the Bridge for Kids project was well received by supporters of the planned pedestrian bridge across the Carbon River. The bridge project will provide Orting residents easy access to higher ground in case of mudflow from Mount Rainier.
 
Tom Etchell, of the Wal-Mart Foundation, made the donation in Olympia on Dec. 2 at the urging of Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Roy). Campbell succeeded last session in  procuring $1.7 million for final design work, environmental studies and right-of-way acquisition for the project that is scheduled to begin construction in 2007.
 
Last month, the U.S. Congress appropriated $750,000 to set up the construction/funding phase of the project.
 
“With Orting situated between the Carbon and Puyallup rivers, there is great concern about evacuating the city in the event of a lahar (mud flow) from Mount Rainier,” Campbell said. “This foot bridge will provide school children -- and all the community -- with the shortest and easiest access to higher ground.”
 
Chuck Morrison, president of Bridge for Kids, a non-profit organization, and Barbara Bauml, of the Human Services Dept. of Pierce County and also treasurer of BFK, accepted the check on behalf of the project.
 
The drive to raise funds through the Bridge for Kids, a non-profit organization, has been underway for four years.
  
The pedestrian bridge will provide a corridor for the Orting School District and all the city of Orting, linking  the Orting Valley to the Cascadia Plateau for an emergency evacuation route.
 
Morrison said, while the bridge project is being built to allow school children easy access to higher ground, “the bridge is really for evacuation for everyone in Orting. It is designed for 12,000 people to vacate Orting in about a 40-minute period,” he said, “which will serve all the community for many, many years to come.”
  
Campbell expressed his appreciation for the Wal-Mart donation, saying “this is such an important project for all the citizens of Orting, that we need support from all levels of government and from large and small donors to construct the $12.2 million bridge.”
 
For information on the Bridge for Kids project, visit the Bridge for Kids website - Bridge4Kids.com

Rep. Tom Campbell (left) and Rep. Jim McCune (second from right) present a $5,000 check for the Bridge for Kids to Barbara Bauml and Chuck Morrison, both of the Bridge For Kids organization. Tom Etchell (right), representing the Wal-Mart Foundation, presented the check to the non-profit organization.

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