WHAT WE HELP BUILD
What We Help Build
Every Bollywood Gala becomes something children in Washington Township can climb on, play in, and grow up with. Since a groundbreaking in the fall of 2011, the Yukta Garg Memorial Foundation has helped build the Butterfly Playground at Countryside Park, the indoor playhouse at RecPlex West known as Yukta’s Garden, and an interactive water feature in the RecPlex pool. As of 2026, that giving record has reached $100,000.
THE FULL STORY
Twenty Years of Giving Back to Washington Township
Every year, funds raised at the Bollywood Gala go back into Washington Township — both as direct gifts to the Trustees for youth enrichment programming, and as the playgrounds and features the Foundation has helped build. Here is the record so far, in one combined timeline:
2026
$10,000, cumulative total reaches $100,000
Presented June 1, 2026. This gift marked a milestone: with it, total giving through the Bollywood Gala and the Yukta Garg Memorial Foundation reached $100,000 — representing, as Arti and Hemant Garg put it, “hundreds of volunteer hours, countless acts of generosity, and a community that continues to come together year after year to support local children and families.”
2025
$10,000, cumulative total reaches $90,000
Presented March 7, 2025. “It is truly our honor tonight to present this $10,000 check — a symbol of what we can achieve together when we work with purpose, heart, and community spirit.”
2024
$10,000, for youth enrichment programming at RecPlex
Presented March 4, 2024, continuing support for youth programming at the Washington Township RecPlex, building on the Butterfly Playground, Yukta’s Garden, and the RecPlex water feature.
2023
$10,000, for youth enrichment programming
Presented March 7, 2023, for youth enrichment programming at the Washington Township Rec Center.
2022
A New Water Feature at the RecPlex Pool
On October 22, 2022, the Foundation received another proclamation from Washington Township for its donation toward the new interactive, kid-friendly water feature at the RecPlex pool. Trustee Vice President Dale Berry dedicated the feature, and the Foundation invited community families to the Splashtastic Water Bucket Celebration, hosted with A Special Wish Foundation at the RecPlex pool, to try it out.
$10,000, continuing the annual tradition
The $10,000 gift presented that March also continued the Foundation’s annual giving to the Trustees for youth enrichment programming.
2019
Yukta’s Garden, the Indoor Playground
On Sunday, March 3, 2019, Yukta’s Garden — the Foundation’s indoor playground inside RecPlex West — opened its doors. It has since become home to countless birthday parties and special events for Washington Township families.
2018
$10,000, continuing the annual tradition
Presented April 2, 2018 to Fiscal Officer Gary P. Smiga at the Board of Trustees meeting — part of what has become an annual tradition since 2018. “We can see the butterfly playground that we all worked for… children playing, laughing, smiling and simply chasing butterflies,” Arti and Hemant Garg said at the time. “It has become a place where relationships are formed, friendships are made, and a place where the entire community comes together to enjoy.”
2013
The Butterfly Playground Opens
The Butterfly Playground at Countryside Park opened on Saturday, October 26, 2013, with a dedication celebration, musical performances, and a ribbon cutting. It was the Foundation’s first major project in Yukta’s memory — a place, as the Gargs said at the time, “where children playing, laughing, smiling and simply chasing butterflies” could have a home of their own.
The first two areas built were the Nature Sounds area — a stage surrounded by outdoor musical instruments including hand drums, a metalophone, and nine-foot chimes — and the Butterfly Meadow, a spider-web climbing structure for older kids with a toddler area of bridges, slides, and balance poles nearby. Both are handicapped accessible.
The dedication closed with a balloon release and a real butterfly release — a fitting send-off for a playground built in Yukta’s memory.
The playground was made possible by an initial $21,000 gift presented to Trustee Vice President Dale Berry by Arti, Hemant, and Ishita Garg, and a $10,000 gift presented to Linda Madden, Senior Recreation Supervisor at the Washington Township Recreation Center.
2011–2013
Groundbreaking and Building the Playground
The Butterfly Playground began with a groundbreaking at Countryside Park in November 2011 — clearing and grading the site along the pond where the playground stands today.
Installation of the playground equipment itself came together in October 2013, in the days before the public dedication.
2010
$21,000 Gift to Washington Township
Years before the annual $10,000 gifts began in 2018, the Foundation was already returning Bollywood Gala proceeds to Washington Township. This video from June 27, 2010 captures the presentation of a $21,000 gift — part of the giving that has continued for two decades.
2007–2010
The Butterfly Celebrations
Before the playground existed, the Foundation held annual Butterfly Celebrations at Countryside Park from 2007 through 2010 — community gatherings with crafts, games, and butterfly releases that carried Yukta’s memory forward and, in time, grew into the push for a permanent playground.
2010 Butterfly Celebration
2009 Butterfly Celebration
2008 Butterfly Celebration
2007 Butterfly Celebration
The Original Design
The Butterfly Playground Concept, Countryside Park
Before any of it was built, Envision Works drew up the original design concept for the Butterfly Playground at Countryside Park on behalf of Washington Township, organized around five distinct play areas: Butterfly Meadow, Nature Sounds, The Woodlands, Natural History, and Ponds & Streams. The concept boards below show the vision that guided what the Foundation and the Township ultimately built together.
Curious how this all began? Read Why We Do This, or see the honors the Foundation and the Gargs have received on the Recognitions page.