At Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in New Orleans, 45 students gathered in the cafeteria late last year to design their very own "dream playground" on blank pieces of paper.

What started out as a few outlandish scribbles has turned into a beacon of hope for a city ravaged by natural disaster and crime.

The children's designs were the first step in the New Orleans "Playground Building Blitz" — a 24-hour construction project of six new playgrounds at area elementary schools — that is under way right now.