Ribbon cutting held Saturday for playground built in honor of Charlie Fernandez

An official ribbon cutting was held Saturday morning for a new playground in Colonie, in honor a 7-year-old girl who passed away from cancer.

We’ve been telling you all week about this project.
Charlie’s playground is an all-abilities playground at Saddlewood Elementary School, in memory of Charlie Fernandez.

It features modifications, such as braille counting panels for the visually impaired.
Charlie passed away from neuroblastoma – a rare cancer that develops in nerve tissue, in April 2021.

Charlie’s Playground is a project that reflects the person she was.
She was vibrant and brave, and never let her illness stop her from doing anything she wanted to do, even when the disease took her eyesight.
Charlie was a first grader at Saddlewood when she passed away.

The fence went up around Charlie’s playground Friday, and Charlie’s former classmates at Saddlewood Elementary School got to check it out for the first time.
It was built through the Where Angels Play Foundation.

It is the 63^rd playground built by the foundation and more than 100 volunteers came together this week in Colonie to build the playground.