WAUKESHA, WIs. — Help is needed to restart fundraising efforts to honor the youngest victim of the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy, Jackson Sparks.
For nearly three years, work has been underway to build the Sparks Complex in Waukesha. But in the past year, the focus has been on completing the Waukesha Parade Memorial downtown. Now, the hope is that efforts will return to the baseball field.
“In the spirit of making a dark time in the Waukesha community come up with some light, and I think having the Sparks family and what Jackson’s spirit embodied—he was walking with his baseball team when the tragedy took place,” said Matt Drvaric, a volunteer who is raising money for the Sparks Complex.
That’s how the idea was born to rebuild a field at W.R. Oliver for Jackson Sparks. The Waukesha County Community Foundation has been behind the two major memorials for the Waukesha Christmas Parade victims.
Watch: Building a field for Jackson: Restarting the efforts for the Sparks Complex
Executive Director Melissa Baxter says this past year has been about completing the city memorial at Grede Park. Now it is time to think about honoring the children.
“It is an appropriate time, now that the other memorial is completed, to turn our attention to this effort. It is in honor of Jackson, but also thinking of all the children who were impacted in our community. This is a space for kids,” said Melissa.
Jackson Sparks, 8, who was a third grader at the time, was killed along with five other people marching in the Waukesha Christmas Parade. Jackson played baseball on the fields where Matt and other volunteers have spent years raising money in his honor.
“I think baseball brings a lot of families together,” said Matt. “It can be a community asset for all families to come and enjoy the park and reflect on what Jackson’s life meant, as well as share those memories.”
The community foundation says the Brewers organization has already committed money to help, along with others. But with only about 50% of the funding raised, they hope a major donor or business considers stepping in so they can start building. They plan to offer naming rights to the field if that happens. Matt says no matter what happens, he plans to keep working on a way to get this complex built for Jackson.
“There is no giving up. I think we will continue to find ways to use this space and bring the community together and recognize what happened,” said Matt.
The field would also have a memorial on it to recognize the other victims of the Waukesha Christmas Parade attacks. For more information on how to donate, click here.
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