CRANBERRY TWP — The 39th Cranberry Township Community Chest’s Community Days raised a significant amount of money for the organization’s 2016 Project of the Year, but officials said rainy weather for part of the three-day festival impacted fundraising efforts.

Bruce Mazzoni, chairman of the township supervisors and treasurer of the Community Chest, said that overall, the festival — held from July 9 to 11 — was a great success.

Mazzoni estimates that about $80,000 to $90,000 was raised for the CTCC 2016 Project of the Year — an effort to resurface the Miracle League ballfield at Graham Park. The field is part of the Miracle League of Southwestern Pennsylvania which provides developmentally disabled children the change to play baseball. A secondary project is to construct a playground adjacent to the ballfield.

The official tally of money raised won’t be announced until the group’s August board meeting, Mazzoni said.

The Community Chest lost some donations because heavy rains caused fields at the Community Park to become excessively wet and led to their closure. The fields are normally used for parking during the festival. Festival goers often donate money for parking and in past years between $15,000 and $20,000 has been raised that way.

Last year, the Community Days festivities raised roughly $105,000 for the 2015 project of the year, the Volunteer Firefighter Initiative, Mazzoni said.

The money raised this year will pay to resurface the Miracle League ballfield at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Sportsplex in Graham Park. The second part of the project is the baseball-themed playground. The overall goal is to raise $600,000 for the project.

Mike Sherry, founder and president of MLSWPA, said he is excited the Miracle League is the project of the year. He hopes the goal is reached so a “one-of-a-kind playground” can be built and the field can be resurfaced.

Sherry said he can’t wait to be able to show off the new playground and he also hopes the resurfacing will bring life back to the field since the colors on the field will be brighter.

Sherry said the new playground is not just for the players in the Miracle League, but for the other children to enjoy. It gives children something to do before and after the games.

“It is all-inclusive for every child,” Sherry said.

Mazzoni said one of the highlights from the Community Days was a statue created by the Cranberry Artist Network based on the Project of the Year.

The statue was a new idea this year, Mazzoni said. In past years, a mural has been done to kick off the new project.

The statue is a 15-foot-statue of a Miracle League “buddy helper” holding a child in the air to make a catch. The base of the statue is decorated with a series of letters from the children, parents and volunteers involved with the Miracle League describing what the league means to them.

Sherry said the statue is fantastic and emblematic of the league.

The statue was created for the community to represent the project’s goal, Sherry said.

He wants to find a place to put the statue where residents can see it.

Sherry said the fundraising efforts for the project continues. The project is seeking individual, business and corporate support to buy the equipment for both the playground and the field.

Anyone seeking information about the project or who wants to donate can visit the MLSWPA website at http://mlswpa.org or the CTCC website at www.ctcchest.org.