OLD TOWN – A grant award from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine will help the Old Town-Orono YMCA fund a new playground for the facility. Local McDonald’s owner-operator Doug Quagliaroli awarded the $15,359 check to Anne Ware of the Old Town-Orono YMCA during the Maine McDonald’s All-Star basketball games in Bangor.

“This new playground will be a widespread asset to the community,” said Ware, Old Town-Orono YMCA child-care director. “Many community members will be able to use the playground through many of our various programs. We are thrilled to start construction with a generous grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine.”

According to Ware, with the record number of children making use of the YMCA and its facilities, there is a growing need to provide more safe places for area children to play and develop important motor skills through physical activity.

“We are extremely pleased to award this grant to the Old-Town-Orono YMCA,” said Sheila Peabody, president of Ronald McDonald House Charities and owner of McDonald’s restaurants in Gardiner and Rockland. “The Old Town-Orono YMCA takes its role as a provider of physical education very seriously, and RMHC is proud to support a playground that will assist the YMCA in encouraging healthy recreation for kids in this area.”