Despite being vandalized on Wednesday night, August 12, The imPOSSIBLE Dream playground was open again by Saturday morning. And by Sunday evening, following up on a lead from a Facebook page, police had arrested two male juveniles.

Early last Thursday morning, Executive Director Diane Penza announced on Facebook the playground would be closed until further notice because of the extensive damage.

This isn’t the first time the imPOSSIBLE Dream has encountered problems. Just last month they had two of their koi fish, Jaws and Princess, stolen out of the pond at the entrance. This, though, is the most extensive damage they have encountered. Penza estimated about $5,000 in damages.

She didn’t know how long it would take to clean up and ensure the park would be safe for children, but after the community rallied for the park it took little more than a day to reopen.

Penza was overwhelmed by the incredible display of support from Warwick; she said that once the news was out donations came pouring in, businesses such as Home Depot, Douglas Lumber and Walgreen’s dropping off checks, patrons donating through the park’s online account, and the phone continued ringing from citizens wanting to volunteer their time to help with the clean-up. As of yesterday, Penza estimated donations totaled $9,000.

With so many people offering to help, Penza encouraged volunteers to come to the park at noon on Friday. Little did she or the volunteers know they would have little to do.

On Friday morning, several companies, construction, disaster cleanup and others, stopped by the park to donate their time and abilities to clean up the park.

Mike Pomeranz, a disaster recovery expert from Single Source, one of the businesses that came to help, brought 12 of his men early Friday morning to clean up. Last year they had worked with imPOSSIBLE Dream to repair a broken pipe and realized what “great people and great work” are behind the playground.

“When we saw what happened, we knew we had to help,” Pomeranz said. “This place just means so much to the community.”

Many Single Source employees bring their children to the park, and after the initial vandalism, Single Source decided to stay and help repair and reinforce some of the structures.

“They’ve done what it would normally take 100 volunteers to do,” Penza said.

Despite so much of the work being done, volunteers still showed up at noon.

Lisa Lineberger and Debra Morris came to volunteer, although their children had outgrown the park a few years ago.

“It is very sad to think that someone would find it funny to destroy such a happy place,” Morris said. “But it’s been very nice to see the community really rally behind this place.”

Lineberger said, “I was disgusted when I first heard what had happened. We are moms, how could we not come out to help children?

Penza said that even children who had outgrown the park themselves remembered the fun they had had at the playground and came forward to volunteer.

Boy Scouts troops had stopped by to help, and one young boy, Penza, said donated his birthday money to the imPOSSIBLE Dream.

“I feel like I’m in a dream. It’s so emotionally moving,” Penza said. “The response and how much people care. Even people without kids see the benefit of this place. It just reinforces the idea that playgrounds play a vital role in the community.”

The surprises just continued for Penza when the Bentley Foundation, a Warwick nonprofit that manages the charity of DiSanto, Priest & Co, Bentley Wealth Advisors and Bentley Consulting Group, donated four security cameras to the playground.

“This has really opened my eyes to how much ownership and pride the community has in my playground,” Penza said.

On Saturday morning the park was safe and open for play, and on Sunday Penza announced over Facebook that the Warwick Police Department had caught the responsible juvenile party. On Monday morning, the department confirmed the arrests with a press release from Captain Christopher Stewart.

A tip had been left of the imPOSSIBLE Dream Facebook page of who had vandalized the property, and police investigated, finding that the two juvenile males in question had posted video online of vandalizing the playground.

Both males are from Warwick and admitted to causing the damage as well as stealing a three-wheeled bicycle from the playground, which was later returned. They were both charged with vandalism and released to their parents.

“This outpouring of affection is more important than what these people did,” she said. “I won’t be able to stop writing thank you letters.”

For more information or to donate, visit the imPOSSIBLE Dream Facebook page or website at www.impossibledreamplayground.org. You can also call 823-5566.