JAY – Resident Judy Diaz has launched a lofty goal to raise $50,000 to replace elementary school playground equipment that was condemned by the insurance company.

So far, $16,000 of $35,000 needed for phase one of the project has been donated by businesses and taken from the town’s recreation account.

Diaz was already working to raise money for the two-phase project before word came that playground equipment was unsafe.

She had seen nails popping out and pieces coming off the wooden structure that was erected 13 years ago by volunteers who raised thousands of dollars.

They did a wonderful job back then, Diaz said, though she wishes it had been metal and not wood because of Maine’s weather.

It initially started as a “me” project, she said, that she thought she would work on over a year.

But it has grown.

The need is all the more urgent since the wooden structure was removed this weekend and school has started with no playground equipment.