**You can also donate by check: Write out to Eli Hart Foundation and mail to 4280 Shoreline Drive, Spring Park, MN 55384.** Eli Hart was a 6-year-old Kindergartener living in Mound, Minnesota. He loved to laugh and play. In May 2022, Eli Hart's own mother, Julissa Thaler, brutally murdered him. Eli had been in and out of foster care due to Julissa's drug use and unstable mental state and his father and stepmother were desperately trying to gain custody of him. Sadly, the courts awarded custody of Eli back to Julissa, despite extreme red flags and objections by Eli’s family and foster family.

A group of community members, including Eli's family, are raising funds and awareness for children in the foster care system in Eli Hart's name. As a community, we want to build a permanent memorial for Eli Hart in Mound for his family and community members to remember Eli and raise awareness for children in the foster care system.

The city of Mound was planning on building a new playground at Surfside Beach but due to a lack of funds, the project was put on hold. This is the perfect opportunity for us to build a playground in honor of Eli - he loved playgrounds and especially loved monkey bars!

The city of Mound estimates the cost of a new playground to be $200,000 - $250,000. Please help us raise money to build this wonderful playground for our community!