State Farm and the Roc Solid Foundation recently teamed up to provide a donated play set for Finnegan Walters, a 5-year-old boy in Groton undergoing treatment for leukemia.

Donated play sets help bring normalcy to children undergoing cancer treatments and provide a safe place for them to play and forget about their illness, hospital visits and treatments. Additionally, although many children have access to public playgrounds, it’s often difficult for kids with compromised immune systems to play in public settings, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the Walters family received its playset pieces, State Farm learned they needed help building the structure. So, local State Farm agents, as well as state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, showed up at the Walters house to build the playset and help Finnegan begin creating many happy memories in his backyard.

The playset build was a surprise for Finnegan, but he watched the team build it and guessed at what they were doing throughout the process. During the four hours it took to complete the build, Finnegan played with toy dinosaurs and cars brought to him by volunteers.

“State Farm has been an amazing partner to us,” said Roc Solid Foundation founder and pediatric cancer survivor Eric Newman. “This year looks very different than we ever expected, but we are so grateful for their continued support as this new program has evolved, so we can continue to provide play to kids during a very difficult time.”

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