CAVE CREEK – While the Desert Foothills Library (DFL) has undergone a number of expansion projects and added more programs that have become extremely popular, as evidenced by the 40 Mahjong Club members playing Mahjong on a Tuesday afternoon in a library conference room, parking has not been able to keep up with the library’s program demands.
According to DFL Executive Director David Court, the library has filed a permit application with the town to expand its parking lot with a third tier that requires engineered grading and drainage plans for water retention due to its hillside location.
Mahjong Club Director and Instructor Andrea Korff said next month will be the one-year anniversary of the Mahjong Club and they are celebrating the success of an idea.
She said there was a need for a place for Mahjong enthusiasts to gather and the DFL welcomed their community of players into their building not knowing the size of the need and size of the group would soon exceed all of their expectations.
Korff stated, “This being the week after Thanksgiving it is still appropriate to express gratitude to the director and his staff for all of their generous help in creating this club,” as she the library is filled daily with activities, events, speakers, classed, support groups, book and movie groups, kids’ activities and more.
With the growth of the Mahjong Club, Korff said Program Manager Destiny Voita has been working extra hard to accommodate parking for the Mahjong Club.
Korff said the idea was born to hold a Mahjong tournament and fundraiser to help pay for the parking lot expansion.
She said they had 44 players on tournament day, a buffet lunch and a hallway full of over 40 fabulous raffle items.
Korff called the volunteers who helped put the event together “a phenomenal, hard working and exceptional team to work with.”
Quoting Robert Kennedy, Korff said, “The purpose of life is to contribute in some way to making things better.”
While recognizing the size and cost of the parking lot expansion project, Korff stated it was the intention of “giving back” that represented the largest contribution and knowing that they made a difference as they presented DFL with a check in the amount of $4,400.
