It took 15 months to raise the more than $30,000 needed to purchase and build a new playground at the John W. Decas Elementary School.

The build itself? Thanks to volunteers, that took just one day.

On Saturday, April 14, the Decas Elementary Playground Committee and its army of volunteers took to the playground area, which has sat mostly empty after unsafe metal structures were ripped down last May. Together they assembled the pieces of the more than 50 feet of equipment, dug holes for the structures, poured concrete to secure the pieces, and covered the area with cushy, child-safe mulch.

“It brought the community together,” Jenn MacKerron, who spearheaded the effort with the Playground Committee, said of the fundraising process and the subsequent build.

From spaghetti dinner fundraisers to “Hat Days” where students paid to wear hats in school and with funding from the Decas PTA, a $2,500 grant from CVS, and countless business-owners who donated to the effort, the project came to fruition faster than many volunteers had anticipated.

There was also a whole lot of penny-pinching. MacKerron was able to get the manufacturer to knock thousands of dollars off the price of the playground and, by conducting a volunteer-driven build, the school didn't have to pay for assembly costs.

“This woman was driven for the kids,” Principal Christine Panarese said of MacKerron, a secretary in the school's front office.

The eight-person Playground Committee – made up of parent and staff volunteers – met on Sundays at Cosi in Wareham Crossing to plan fundraising efforts and discuss other operational necessities.

“You don't do that because your boss asks you to,” Panarese said, her eyes filling with tears as she stopped for a moment on Saturday and watched the volunteers piece the playground together. “That's love.”

MacKerron was humble about her involvement.

“I thank these ladies from the bottom of my heart,” she said of the members of the Playground Committee.

Doug Powers of Abbey Glass served as the “operations manager” of Saturday's build. A parent of a Decas second-grader, the project was particularly close to him.

“I was asked to volunteer... but forcefully.” Powers joked.

He gave a lot of credit to the Playground Committee members, who he said “did most of the work.”

Powers also brought along a team of strong builders to help.

“Digging holes and leveling them, we've done all that before,” he explained. “It's a piece of cake.”

Ben Bailey, a Decas third-grader whose Wareham Youth Soccer team had a game scheduled at the school's adjacent field, attentively watched the build from behind a safety barrier. Ben, who broke his arm while using the old equipment, said he couldn't wait to play on the new playground.

“I think it's going to turn out awesome!” Ben said. “I was actually expecting it to be like the old playground... a few things over here, a few things over there.”

The new playground is much bigger, he noted.

And Saturday's build was just the beginning.

“We're not done yet!” Playground Committee member Colleen DeGowin said with a grin.

Phase 2, which will add interactive play pieces such as a tire swing to the playground, is already underway. It was completely funded by Decas teacher Janice Campagnone.

“She's just a wonderful lady,” Panarese said of Campagnone. “She loves her school and these kids.”

The “phase 2” pieces are expected to be delivered this week.

And phase 3? That's already on the Playground Committee's radar. Though the new equipment is big and interactive, there are some classic playground pieces missing.

“We really need a swing set,” MacKerron noted.

The cement will be dried and the playground should be ready to use this week, though the bulk of the Decas Elementary students won't get to try it out until after spring break. Classes resume on April 23.

Some of them, however, know what's in store. They saw the equipment as workers unloaded it.

“To see these kids' faces when it was coming off the truck … I turned around with tears in my eyes,” said MacKerron. “It was all worth it.”