As we say at KaBOOM!, "it starts with a playground." Here are some of the amazing things that can happen after the cement dries.

Julio Salcedo, site director for Lytle Creek Park, in San Bernadino, Calif. shared with KaBOOM! the amazing ripple effects brought about by their playground build on March 29 as part of the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.

• The plots in the community garden created on Build Day have all been adopted by families, who have planted a variety of vegetables and fruit trees.
  
  
• The teenagers involved in the build have formed a community service club, and they take care of the plants around the center and are working on creating a walking path in the area.
  
  
• Attendance at the community center near the playground is off the charts! They used to feed lunch to 25 kids a day, and now they have to order 70 lunches each day for the kids. They used to serve 40 to 50 people visit on an average day, and now the numbers are closer to 120.
  
  
• Even more amazingly, the very first Lytle Creek Community Association meeting is scheduled to take place on May 21, and will include reps from the sheriff's department, code enforcement, health and human services, and animal services.

See photos from the Lytle Creek Park Build.
Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.

Volunteers at CentroNìa Playground Build

As part of Comcast Cares Day, over 186 volunteers, mostly Comcast employees, turned out Saturday to build a playground at the Takoma Park, Md. location of CentroNìa, a Washington, D.C.-based, multilingual, youth development nonprofit. The volunteers sweated in the warm, sunny weather as they mixed 14,000 lbs. of concrete by hand and moved 170 cubic yards of mulch on tarps from the parking lot to the playspace.

Carmien Ray, technical operations supervisor at Comcast, took on the mantle of Mulch Queen for the day, wearing a crown and guiding volunteers to where they needed to place the mulch. “It’s fun!” she said, grinning. “But it’s not for the faint of heart. You’ve got to have endurance to work the mulch!”

CentroNìa Playground - before

The playspace, built in just five hours, includes not only two big play structures, but also several picnic tables, a shade structure, benches, trees, and a large mural and tricycle path.

Lisa Miller, development associate at CentroNìa, knows this project will have long-term implications for the kids served there – and their parents. “It shows the kids that they’re valued,” she said. “Comcast has made an investment in them, and therefore in the community."

See more photos from the build

Read about the Design Day

Do the kids in your community need great places to play?  If your answer is YES, then sign up for one of our FREE Workshops Entirely on Play (WE Play!). 

At select WE Play! events sponsored by Kool-Aid, (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston and Cleveland), applications will be available for five $7,500 grants toward building a playground in their community!  Only WE Play! attendees are eligible to apply.

At WE Play!, you’ll learn how to plan, fund, and complete a community-build playground project AND advocate for more play in your community. 

With the generous support of our partners Kool-Aid and The Home Depot, we've got FREE trainings scheduled across the country including Charlotte (May 13), Chicago (May 16) Los Angeles (June 5), Houston (July 10) and New Orleans (July 25) in the coming months. Get started on the path toward building a great playground today!

FROM:  Rockwell Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARCHITECT DAVID ROCKWELL & KaBOOM! COLLABORATE ON NEW GENERATION OF “FREE PLAY” SPACES TO BE BUILT ACROSS THE U.S.

Anticipate Over 1,000 Imagination Playgrounds Across the Country Within Five Years

Partnership to Encourage Play and Creativity – First “Playground in a Box” to be Installed In Brownsville, Brooklyn

May 5, 2008 (New York, NY) – Architect David Rockwell of Rockwell Group and KaBOOM!, the foremost national not for profit dedicated to bringing play back into the lives of children, today announced a partnership to develop and implement a new generation of playspaces across the United States, based on the play value concepts of Imagination Playground, the Rockwell Group’s design for a playground in lower Manhattan. 

The Rockwell Group created Imagination Playground, which will break ground this summer, to embody the concept of unstructured, child directed “free play,” where children direct their own activities, alone and with their peers.  The Rockwell Group has worked closely with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation on the initiative.

“We have always hoped to make the Imagination Playground concept available to communities nationwide,” said David Rockwell, founder and CEO of Rockwell Group.  “We could not be more thankful to KaBOOM! for helping make that dream a reality.”

KaBOOM! has spent 12 years building playspaces using a community build model, where they partner with corporations, foundations and private donors.  Creating opportunities and tools for building playgrounds, KaBOOM! will extend their play platform by incorporating the Imagination Playground model into an expandable collection of its trademark parts to supplement existing playgrounds and form the basis for new playspaces. 

"KaBOOM! believes that play is a matter of national importance.  We can't wait to bring some of the most innovative, yet old-fashioned concepts in play back to children across the country.  By adding sand, water, loose parts, and play associates to what KaBOOM! already offers, we're going to revolutionize your neighborhood playground," said Darell Hammond, co-founder and CEO of KaBOOM!

By Darell Hammond
KaBOOM! CEO and Co-Founder

When we started KaBOOM! in 1995, I could never have imagined that we’d be partnering with CaliforniaVolunteers for the second year in a row to create ten amazing playspaces throughout the State of California in honor of César Chávez.  I am so honored to be a part of this program.  It holds a special significance to me because it serves to unite communities and stress the importance of service by highlighting the values of one of the nation’s foremost leaders in civil rights.

“Sí se puede,” or, “Yes, it can be done” are the words that Chávez used to fuel the passion of his fight, promoting idealism, hope and a strong belief in equality for all.  This message of empowerment was carried throughout each build, instilling in volunteers a drive to strengthen their community by working together to build a great new place for local youth to play. 

We kicked off the program at the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust with 340 eager volunteers ready to build one of the largest playground projects that KaBOOM! has ever led.  This was a tremendous kick-off to a program that produced nine playgrounds and one skatepark, requiring 136 tons of concrete, 2,290 cubic yards of Engineered Wood Fiber and 109 gallons of paint!

Here at KaBOOM! we say that it only take a single spark to start a fire.  At each build this ethos was brought to life with the traditional United Farm Workers’ clap – a tradition started to demonstrate solidarity and unity.  Slow and singular claps quickened, growing louder as more claps joined in unison, soon becoming a roar that motivated crowds of volunteers, providing them with a great momentum to push them through the day. 

As Linscott Charter School parent, Karen Lowell, noted, “the soul of the day wasn’t in the building details; it was in the people.”  Throughout the program, KaBOOM! was joined by 11 Chavez Family members, 15 California Volunteers Build Captains and 3,542 volunteers – an astounding turnout! 

The 2008 KaBOOM! César Chávez Playground Build program proved to be a monumental homage to a great leader, as well as a moving example of how KaBOOM! helps strengthen communities by empowering them to build playgrounds. 

Thanks again to First Lady Maria Shriver whose incredible dedication to this program truly reflected her vision and commitment to service.  Special thanks to all who joined us to donate their sweat, passion and laughter to a great program we hope to continue for many years to come.   

Sí se puede!

Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service

View photos from Design Day

Following the children’s portion, more than 30 adults from the community met to learn about the KaBOOM! planning process and sign up for committees responsible for construction, food, safety, youth involvement, and volunteer recruitment. The enthusiastic group also established the planning committee’s weekly meeting time and created their own ‘wish list’ of items for the new playground to be constructed on June 14.

Partners for this special build are the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Fannie Mae, the Foundation for the Mid South, the Hancock Housing Resource Center and the City of Bay St. Louis.

The Gulf Coast Community Foundation is the administrator of the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund, which was established by Governor Barbour days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. This project is one of 17 that will be completed in the lower six counties this year using funds from the Hurricane Recovery Fund. Fannie Mae and the Foundation for the Mid South are also providing matching funds for each project. The Hancock Housing Resource Center (HRRC) is an initiative of the Hancock Community Development Foundation. The main role of the HHRC is to find ways to address housing needs in Hancock County.

“A major part of developing housing is community participation,” said Sherry-Lea Bloodworth, Director of the Hancock Housing Resource Center. “What better way to build close community ties than through a KaBOOM! playground build? I can’t think of a better way to stimulate community participation and reinvigorate weary residents as we continue to rebuild. After all, the KaBOOM! process not only builds playgrounds, it brings communities together. We are so thrilled to be partners for the KaBOOM! 100th playground.”

The first Operation Playground project took place on December 17, 2005 at Carol Vegas Park in Bay St. Louis. More than 600 volunteers gathered on that day to help build the first new playground in the Gulf Coast after Katrina and Rita devastated the landscape. Since then, KaBOOM! and our partners have built 95 playgrounds in towns from Houston to Mobile, bringing play back to the lives of children living in these areas and giving neighbors old and new the chance to build a sense of community lost in the storms.

While KaBOOM! will continue to build in the Gulf after the 100th playground, this important milestone will allow us to celebrate our success with friends, draw attention to the ongoing needs of those living in the Gulf and remind people about the importance of having safe and fun places children can play.

• As planning gets underway for this important build, we want to hear from you! Share your story of how you helped bring play back to the Gulf Coast.
  
  
• Be a part of the movement and join us for this special project. Volunteer for the 100th build!
  
  
• Take a walk down memory lane with us! Check out pictures from all of our Operation Playground projects.

Learn more about Operation Playground.

It's official! The 100th Operation Playground project will take place on Saturday, June 14 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park in Bay St. Louis, fulfilling a commitment we made to build 100 playgrounds in the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The project will kick off with a Design Day on Apr. 28. Our partners for this special build are the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Fannie Mae, the Foundation for the MidSouth, the Hancock Housing Resource Center and the City of Bay St. Louis.

While we will continue to build in the Gulf after the 100th playground, this important milestone will allow us to celebrate our success with friends, draw attention to the ongoing needs of those living in the Gulf and remind people about the importance of having safe and fun places children can play.

As planning gets underway for this important build, we want to hear from you! Share your story of how you helped bring play back to the Gulf Coast.

Be a part of the movement and join us for this special project. Volunteer for the 100th build!

Take a walk down memory lane with us! Check out pictures from all of our Operation Playground projects.

Learn more about Operation Playground

Wondering why you should attend a Workshop Entirely on Play (WE Play!)?

Here are just a sampling of what you'll take away from the experience:

1. Practical tools and resources for building playgrounds and advocating for play
2. Kazoo-playing skills
3. Tons of helpful information to take home
4. An in-depth knowledge of the importance of play
5. Connections to others in your region who are passionate about play
6. The opportunity to help build a playground in just one day
7. Sandpails full of inspiration!

At the Washington, D.C. WE Play! event Apr. 10, many participants came for the practical how-tos regarding playground building and play advocacy, and left feeling inspired and energized.

"I came because I wanted to find out more about how to plan and make an exciting playground for kids," said Inez Edwards, who runs the youth wellness program for the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington. "I'm motivated by the passion people have already put into playgrounds and parks. It's a community effort!"

Birju Patel, a senior at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, has been working with his university to build a playground. "One thing that inspired [my team] is we did a site visit and saw kids running around in an open field, playing with sticks and throwing rocks at each other. Knowing you have the resources to change that...you know the result will be spectacular," he said. "Learning the process — the Roadmap — was really important for me as a person who's trying to organize a playground project."

Participants heard from Steve Coleman, executive director for Washington Parks & People, who shared his the story of organizing a project that has brought a Washington, D.C. park back to life. The project has involved over 40,000 volunteers so far, who have cleaned up and restored a park that was once a haven for drug dealers. The project has created new jobs and made the park into a community gathering space, which includes a youth-tended garden. The youth sell the produce they grow in a Farmer's Market in the park.

"One day the drug dealers were there, selling heroin and PCP, and the next day the kids got there before the drug dealers and were selling peas and carrots," said Coleman. "The looks on the drug dealer's faces..."

This year's WE Play! events feature not just information on building playgrounds, but also lots of great tips and discussions on how to make play a priority in people's communities. Participants can choose between a playspace builder's track and a play advocacy track.

"At the play advocacy track at the D.C. WE Play!, we had great discussions about combating childhood obesity and ensuring safe play environments for all kids, especially those in at-risk communities," said Brooke Bennett, national advocacy manager for KaBOOM!. "Participants shared best practices, discussed how to engage other citizens, and learned how the KaBOOM! tools and resources could help them be catalysts for change in their communities."

The day following the Washington, D.C. WE Play!, participants had the opportunity to participate in a playground build with So Others Might Eat (SOME) Zagami House in Southeastern Washington, D.C., home to 12 formerly homeless and extremely low income families.

You can participate in an upcoming WE Play! event, too! Dates for upcoming events are below.

Upcoming WE Play! dates & locations

Learn more about WE Play!

Photos are now available from the 1,000th playground built in 1,000 days between KaBOOM! and The Home Depot. Check out all the action in our Photo Galleries and watch a video from the day!

Thanks to The Home Depot and KaBOOM!, this Thursday, Apr. 10, kids in Marietta, Ga. got a state-of-the-art, spherically-designed EVOS™ playground, which allows kids to use their imaginations to plan climbing routes, create games and build new skills!

We look forward to continuing on this incredible journey, making a difference in the lives of children, one playground at a time!

Learn more about our partnership with The Home Depot!

The Home Depot and KaBOOM! Celebrate 1,000th Playspace
$25 Million Campaign to Build or Refurbish 1000 Playspaces Reaches Milestone in April

Washington, D.C., April 9, 2008 - KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization whose vision is a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, announces that The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, is its first partner to build or refurbish 1,000 playspaces. The Home Depot and KaBOOM! first committed to building 1,000 playspaces together in 2005.

“The Home Depot’s unprecedented participation in this initiative will enhance the physical, social and emotional well-being of children all over North America,” said Darell Hammond, CEO and Co-Founder, KaBOOM! “as we reach our 1,000th playspace build on April 10, 2008, I am truly astounded by the impact this partnership has made on communities across the nation.”

The 1,000th build will take place in Victory Park, in the City of Marietta, GA. The playground, built in partnership with the City of Marietta Parks & Recreation and the Marietta Kiwanis, will provide a safe, fun environment for children from the community and three nearby schools.

As the founding partner of KaBOOM! since 1995, The Home Depot provides financial support, materials and hundreds of volunteers for play space projects across North America.

Key facts:

• 1,000 playgrounds built or refurbished in 1,000 days
• $25 million invested by The Home Depot
• 954,435 volunteer hours donated by Home Depot associates
• 99,555 Team Depot volunteers participated
• 619,300 children served

Each playground built through this campaign was funded by a $47,200 grant by The Home Depot and a $10,000 contribution from the community partner receiving the playground. Other playspace programs included in this program include community challenge grants, field refurbishments, and skateparks. Once a community partner has been selected, the typical planning period leading up to Build Day is eight to 10 weeks. The project is led by the KaBOOM! project manager and build captains from The Home Depot and the community partner. On Build Day, approximately 150 volunteers from The Home Depot and 100 community volunteers join together to construct a new playground.

Thanks to The Home Depot and KaBOOM!, this Thursday, Apr. 10, kids in Marietta, Ga. will be getting a state-of-the-art, spherically-designed EVOS™ playground, which allows kids to use their imaginations to plan climbing routes, create games and build new skills!

This playground is the 1,000th playspace build in 1,000 days as part of a partnership between The Home Depot and KaBOOM!.

We'll be posting photos of the build on kaboom.org throughout the day, so be sure to stop by Thursday to watch a state-of-the-art playground come together in just eight hours!

Needless to say, building 1,000 playspaces in 1,000 days is an amazing accomplishment. How do you add up the success of 1,000 builds in 1,000 days? Easy!

The Home Depot's $25 million commitment to the project
+

59,515 community volunteers
+
59,555 Team Depot Associates

+
954,435 volunteer hours 
= 1,000 new and refurbished playspaces that will serve over 600,000 children across the United States!

We look forward to continuing on this incredible journey, making a difference in the lives of children, one playground at a time!

Learn more about our partnership with The Home Depot!

Jamison to help build playground in Shreveport, promote importance of play among children

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  As part of his ongoing efforts to provide “A Better Tomorrow” for children, NBA All-Star Antawn Jamison and national non-profit KaBOOM! announced a new partnership to encourage and promote play among children across the country.

KaBOOM!, an organization that empowers communities to build playgrounds, will team with Jamison to sponsor a playground build in his hometown of Shreveport in September of 2008 with the potential to build playgrounds in other areas in the future. Additionally, Jamison will serve as a KaBOOM! All-Star Playmaker – an extension of the Playmaker Network consisting of national leaders and celebrities who take action for play on behalf of KaBOOM!, while promoting the importance of play.

Jamison, whose “A Better Tomorrow” campaign has helped countless individuals across the country via scholarships, clothing and food donations and financial contributions, participated alongside hundreds of volunteers to build a KaBOOM! playground in just one day in New Orleans on Feb. 15 at the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood and Family Learning Center in conjunction with the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. Inspired by the massive community involvement and the tangible result of a playground that will serve thousands of children, Jamison contacted KaBOOM! to facilitate building a playground in his childhood home of Shreveport.

“Encouraging children to play by building playgrounds is important to me because it not only allows a kid to be a kid, but it also helps bring entire communities together,” Jamison said. “Those are two of my biggest charitable goals. It seems that television and video games are making so many children grow up too quickly these days. Playing video games is fun but playing outside and interacting with other kids is where friendships are built and dreams are created.” 

... 

On Saturday, April 5, a new playground will be built in Macon, Ga. thanks to the efforts of KaBOOM!, the Junior League of Macon, the Bibb County Medical Society, NewTown Macon, lots of great donors and volunteers...and Dr. Frank B. Kelly, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon who has worked with virtually every aspect of his community's playground build. He's been involved in everything from volunteer recruitment to fundraising to construction to safety to spearheading the involvement of the Medical Society with his colleague, Dr. Seth Bush.

This is Dr. Kelly's sixth playground build with KaBOOM! He's built other playgrounds with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which has built a playground in association with their annual meetings each year since 2000. Those builds inspired him to do a build in his hometown. This unique project has an interesting history. Read on for a Q&A with Dr. Kelly, where you can learn the story that led to this build.

How did your project get started?

Dr. Frank Kelly

When we got back home we had several organizational meetings between the Medical Society and the representatives from the Junior League, we decided on our budget, we identified key personnel to help and also started working to identify individuals, businesses, and foundations within our community which we thought would be supportive of our project. A logo for our playground was designed, and we were off and running.

Why is this new playspace particularly important to Macon? 
This playground will not only be the largest playground in our community, but it will be centrally located and easily accessible from all areas. In addition, it will be a central feature of a larger park...a park which will offer numerous outdoor activities, including bike trails, hiking trails, fishing, and access to water sports, such as canoeing on the Ocmulgee River – the Water Works Park will include two miles of river frontage – an incredibly beautiful piece of property.

Above all, the playspace is important because it will be an accessible playground – affording all the children of our community, even those with different abilities, an opportunity to experience the joys and benefits of play and physical activity. Before now, children with disabilities have had to go as far away as Atlanta (an hour and a half drive) to enjoy the experience of being with their friends on a playground. I think this playground will be a tremendous service to our community, and I think it is one of the very best things to happen to Macon in my lifetime.

What inspires you to continue building playgrounds?
Playground builds are such a lasting tribute to the community and afford our children the opportunities to enjoy the many benefits of play and physical activity. Being a medical doctor, I am well aware of the growing epidemic of childhood and juvenile obesity and also well aware that many of our children do not participate in physical activity as much as did those of other generations. Why not provide them with this opportunity?

And the special part about our project is the fact that we have gone to great efforts to make our playground accessible, so it can be enjoyed by all children. We will have a rubberized surface that is easily negotiated by wheelchairs. We will have wheelchair useable ramps to access the equipment. We will have special swings and other equipment that kids with disabilities might use.

We will probably have 250-300 participants on our Build Day and I look forward to seeing the energy that will be exhibited on that day!

285
Number of volunteers who came together in nine communities across the beautiful state of California to complete Prep Day 1 for the March 29 builds.

592
Number of holes that were dug for playground equipment, new fencing, community gardens and other play enhancement projects (77 holes were dug by hand) for the March 29 builds.

272,070
Pounds (that’s 136 tons!) of concrete that were delivered to the nine sites across the state for the March 29 builds.

2,290
Cubic yards of Engineered Wood Fiber that were delivered to eight sites for the March 29 builds. (That’s 23 semi trailers of mulch!)

9
Number of "Core Values Signs" that were installed at nine sites on March 29.

9
Number of murals painted, using 198 quarts and 64 gallons of paint between nine sites on March 29.

7
Number of complete playgrounds that were created (plus one skatepark, which makes eight), which include:

• 1 half pipe
• 16 bridges
• 34 slides
• 7 crawl tubes
• 11 bays of swings
• 2 tire swings
• 18 overhead events like monkey bars
• 2 see saws
• 1 Play Web
• 1 Bernie the Bus
• 1 train

3088
Number of adults who volunteered on Build Days on March 19 and 29

416
Kids who helped out on the Build Days through children's activities.

Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.

In Memory of Cesar Chavez
Born March 31, 1927 died April 22, 1993
By Loretta Martinez Williams
Santa Ana, Calif.

I was wet with the morning dew,
I was wet with poison too.
DDT had fallen from the sky,
I was so small, I didn’t ask why.
We lived on their land,
And worked with our hands.
We existed from their store,
Worked ‘til we weren’t needed anymore.
We then went on unto our next stop,
So tired at night into our shack we’d drop.
With a hoe and a shovel,
We had yet to overcome our trouble.
It wasn’t easy living a life like this,
And it’s the loss of our life that we are amiss.
You sacrificed yourself,
In order to seek help,
Trying to change the old way of life,
Helping us to overcome our strife.
Non violently struggling for our rights,
Answering the call and our guiding light.
Steadfast and bringing attention to our plight.
You would become the victor of our rights,
And yet you weren’t with us for very long,
But in your time you helped us to become strong.
¡La Huelga, si se mueve!
¡Si se puede! ¡Si se puede!
These words we remember when we think of you,
Our loyalty and trust eternally true.

Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.

Check out the new "Community Involvement" section of the KaBOOM! online Toolkit, where you can learn how to find great resources in your community for volunteers, fundraising, tool donation, and more!

"Community Involvement" complements all the other Toolkit sections by guiding you through the Asset-Based Community Development process, which helps you and your planning team identify people, associations, institutions and businesses in your community that can help with your playground project.

Share your wisdom with others! If your team comes up with a great idea for an individual, association, business or institution that can help with your playspace project, you can add it to the "Community Involvement" lists of individuals, associations, businesses and institutions to seek out. Each of these sections of the Toolkit can be edited or added to by anyone!

Read the "Community Involvement" section of the online Toolkit.

Update: Note date change

KaBOOM! and The Home Depot have once again partnered to offer $4500 grants to communities building playgrounds by June 1, 2008. Forty grants are available and will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis. Applications must be received by April 15, 2008, playgrounds must be built by June 1, 2008, and must follow the KaBOOM! Community-Build Model. Download the application form here.

Grantees awarded the grant must complete the following:

• Register their project in the KaBOOM! Project Planner as part of the application process
• Create a local project website within 30 days of receiving notification of the grant award, and update the local website through the course of the project
• Create records for at least 10 playspaces in their community in the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder
• Post at least three messages on the KaBOOM! Web Portal Online Forums
• Register 5 Playmakers
• Agree to complete a Vendor Rating System record on the KaBOOM! website upon completion of the project.

Karen Lowell
Linscott Charter School Parent and PR Committee Chairperson

I started to write about the structures we built and the details of the day. But the soul of the day wasn’t in the building details; it was in the people. The scurrying masses flew to work as a jovial mob, moving tools, setting out the playground components, arranging food and water, and otherwise setting up the material proof that we were really going to build a playground by 2:30 p.m.  

All day long people I knew and people I didn’t know were slapping high fives and hugging me in giddy delight. Mothers embarrassed children as they salsa-danced their way from work site to work site. People stopped me to tell me they had goose bumps.  There was JOY in the air, and proud amazement that we were really going to pull it off.  

The best moment was at the very end when all but the KaBOOM! team and a handful of us from Linscott were left. A woman from the neighborhood walked by and asked, “What happened here today!?” She said a young man had walked past her house as he left the build site, and simply stepped into her yard to help her garden. “That NEVER happens in this neighborhood.”

Well, after our magical day it just may. We mixed concrete to hold up our playground; we mixed friendship, joy and pride to cement the bonds that hold us together as a community. Long after the children who play on this playground are grown, we will all remember the spirit of joy with which it was built. I feel immensely privileged to have been part of it all.

Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.

ANKENY, Iowa -- On March 25, neighbors of Somersby Park were invited to cast a vote for their favorite park playground design. With three designs to choose from, over 50 votes were cast, including votes from a number of kids that had the opportunity to select what amenities will be in their new playground.

The three designs, provided by Boland Recreation, Inc., varied by the types of swings, slides, climbing walls and teeter totters, as well as the shape of the playground area. A company representative was also on hand during the voting to answer questions and explain how each piece of equipment worked.

The winning design features a large tower structure, a set of swings and unique equipment from the Xccent playground company called the Gyro and the X-Wave 2.

One young man, participating in the democratic process for the first time, cast his vote and then excitedly asked, “Can we go play there now?”

Playground voting is one way Ankeny engages its citizens in projects and activities and advances the city council’s goal to promote active lifestyles and community involvement. The process begins with a series of neighborhood meetings in which city staff work with residents to determine the types of amenities that will be included in the park and what the playground will look like. Staff then begins work with a design team in developing three different playground designs. Neighborhood residents are invited back a month or so later to vote on which one of the three designs they like best. The design with the most votes is the one that is installed in the park. All are eligible to vote – especially the kids, as they will be the primary users of the playground!

The winning playground will be installed in June as part of the initial development phase of the park. Other improvements include landscaping, a trail loop and the Fallen Soldier Memorial Plaza, in honor of an Ankeny soldier and resident of the Somersby neighborhood, recently killed in the war. The seven acre park will eventually grow to nearly 14 acres, through future land acquisition.

Ankeny was selected as one of 31 Playful City USA communities in the inaugural year of the national recognition program administered by the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play. KaBOOM! is a national non-profit that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Applications for 2008 Playful City USA status can be downloaded at www.playfulcityusa.org and are due by May 15, 2008.

Over the last three years, KaBOOM! and The Home Depot have made amazing strides toward our goal of creating 1,000 playgrounds in 1,000 days. This partnership has produced great playspaces for over 600,000 children all across North America.

Join us as we celebrate this amazing accomplishment of building and refurbishing 1,000 playgrounds and we look forward to continuing on the road of this incredible journey—a journey that is making a difference in the lives of children, one playground at a time!

Where we’ve been:
Feb. 13 - Belleview, Fla.
Feb. 14 - Jackson, Miss.
Feb. 14 - Costa Mesa, Calif.

Where we’re going:
Mar. 20 - Mobile, Ala.
Mar. 20 - Memphis, Tenn.
April 10 - Marietta, Ga. (1,000th Build!)
April 10 - West Palm Beach, Fla.
April 19 - Wilmington, N.C.
April 24 - Little Rock, Ark.
April 24 - Kansas City, Mo.

See how Team Depot Associates have made a difference in their communities by visiting kaboom.org/homedepot.

1,000th Playground Goes High-Tech!
The Home Depot, KaBOOM! and the Kiwanis Club met with kids from the Magnet Academy at the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics who put crayon to paper and drew their dream playground for the upcoming 1,000th Build Day at Victory Park in Marietta, Ga. on April 10. The children’s playground designs were based on an outer space theme and included a series of high-tech swings, slides and crawl tubes. 

The 1,000th playground structure will be a state-of-the-art spherically designed EVOS™ playground which allows kids to use their imaginations to plan climbing routes, and create games and build new skills. 

“This (playground) is going to be the first of its type in the metro Atlanta area,” said Erica Liberman, KaBOOM! Associate Director of Project Management, “It's going to be a brand new type of equipment, it's wild and exciting and you’ll just have to come and check it out!”

The Grain Project is honored to have been asked by the city of Santa Ana Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency and KaBOOM! to design, plan, and help build a community garden at Jerome Park in conjunction with the Cesar Chavez Day of Service. This garden will be the first of its kind established in a Santa Ana city park. The decision to create the Jerome Park garden project recognizes the need for ready access to fresh, flavorful and nutritious, locally-produced fruits and vegetables. This comes at a time when our food comes from increasingly distant locations; when "factory farming" has turned much of what we eat into a commodity to be bought and sold, rather than savored and enjoyed; and where the systematic over-processing of basic food items has resulted in health threats for young and old alike.

Local community gardens offer an opportunity for neighborhoods and residents to once again connect with the essential human experience of producing one's own food in a context of comfort and familiarity where neighbors, friends, and family can work together in a common pursuit. One especially exciting aspect of the Jerome Park "edible garden" is the cross-section of potential gardeners: young, old, faith-based, recent immigrants, and natives. The immediate proximity to two schools, a church with one of the city's largest memberships, a senior center, and a community center present tremendous opportunities for bridging gaps, mentoring, and community building.

The community garden will enhance the existing park and surrounding community by bringing together food, nutrition, open space and community partnership. KaBOOM! and the city of Santa Ana, through this joint effort, will help contribute towards a new era of sustainable urban living: bonding people, land, and communities together in a way where we all have a personal investment in the food we eat and the place where it comes from.

Learn more about the Cesar Chavez Day of Service

By Mayor Shirley Franklin
Appearing in the March 24th edition of Nation Cities Weekly
Published by the National League of Cities

In 2007, Atlanta was named an inaugural Playful City USA community by KaBOOM!, a national non-profit that empowers communities to build playgrounds. It wasn’t just because we worked hard on trails that link our parks and communities; it wasn’t just because we had thousands of great places for kids to play — it was also because of the efforts of the many Atlantans devoted to making our city the best city in which to raise children.

Our great city will always step up when it comes to creating a better life for our children. The tangible evidence of this spurred Cynthia Gentry, founder and chairperson of the Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP). This public/private partnership applied to KaBOOM! for Playful City USA recognition and went on to receive a $25,000 grant to help train community leaders on how to build playgrounds so that there will be a playground near every child in Atlanta by the end of 2010. With hundreds of community leaders like Cynthia out there, all of Atlanta’s children will be healthier, happier and smarter because they have great places to play.

When the people of Atlanta elected me to be their mayor in 2001, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Atlanta was facing a multitude of problems. With a neglected infrastructure, struggling schools, and communities failing to address basic quality of life issues, I knew I needed to unite Atlantans to work together for big positive changes in order to establish the city as a beacon of progress, hope and opportunity. Experience has taught me that a government can’t do this on its own. I knew we needed to find people and empower them to make a difference.

Every community has a next-door neighbor like Cynthia who is willing to step up. Find yours. Everyone has the power to give back and make their community better. Get started! Every community has people who can organize projects and volunteer their time. Get yours moving. Create your own task force on play to work with your City and your Parks Department and do what you can to become a Playful City USA.

Details: Atlanta was selected as one of 31 Playful City USA communities in the inaugural year of the national recognition program administered by the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play. KaBOOM! is a national non-profit that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Applications for 2008 Playful City USA status can be downloaded at www.playfulcityusa.org and are due by May 15, 2008.

Shirley Franklin is mayor of Atlanta.

By Adam Arata and Caleb Marshall
KaBOOM!

How amazing is this? On March 19 and 29, over 3,000 volunteers will donate their time to build nine playgrounds and one skatepark in 10 communities across California in honor of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez! All this is being made possible through the participation and leadership of each community, and through the generous contribution of CaliforniaVolunteers.
 
Planning for the playspaces began in January, when children and teens from each community met with organizers from KaBOOM! and CaliforniaVolunteers to draw their “dream” playgrounds or skatepark. The drawings were used to create the final designs.

At the Rainbow Recreation Center in Oakland, Calif., for example, youth ranging in age from eight to 18 and representing BMX bikers, skateboarders, and in-line skaters collaborated on a skatepark design to convert an unused tennis court into a much-needed free-skate zone.