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Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds

INSIDE OUT

108 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 23 Dec 05 9:36 AM

Ginny,
Got the Tshirts yesterday! Thanks! My whole staff here is wearing them today and cheering for the children of Mississippi! Spreading the joy of what you have done their for your children has indeed given many of us here hope that we can indeed make this happen for our children too. We are spreading the word of what you have done in hopes that others around us will truly understand what the power of play means to all the children of the world!

Congratulations on your build and I can't wait to see the photos of the new playground. Be expecting a gift from the folks at here at IOP. We are well underway on getting the space and as we speak a
Phase 1 environmental study is being conducted. Hopefully we will receive one of the three wishes I have asked for for the holiday season...yes our new playground for all the children of Central Maine.

Have a wonderful holiday season from all of us here at INSIDE OUT Playground and Preschool.

Take care!

Anne
IOP

Virginia Reynolds

26 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 28 Dec 05 7:08 PM

Dear Nan, Anne, Cynthia, and everyone else who was cheering us on,

We did it! It was quite possibly the most joyful day I can ever remember..We were crossing our fingers that 200 volunteers would show up on a cold, wet day in Mississippi..We had over 650!..We simply quit counting...So many people told me that this was the first happy day since the storm..The mayor cooked jambalaya, the children danced the second line and sang, "When KaBoom! Goes Marching In," the oldest and youngest residents of the town worked side by side..

The real story here is the spirit of the people of a small town that has lost so much..Apart from their material well-being, they had lost the hope and the belief that things could ever improve... A bunch of orange jacketed KaBoomers changed all that for them..Now, so much seems possible....And they have a good starting point with a lovely park right in the heart of the town. Thank you KaBoom for doing what you do so beautifully..And thank you for having the confidence that a rag-tag group of hurricane survivors could work with you to pull it off..It really is nothing short of a miracle..

Thanks to everyone for your kindness and support.
Ginny

INSIDE OUT

108 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 29 Dec 05 3:31 PM Modified By lindam on 3/23/2006 12:57:05 PM)

WOW Ginny! Truly an amazing and heartwarming story. 650 People that must had been such a wonderful thing to see so many people gathered together to build a playground for all those children. I can see it and feel it my heart all those children and the smiles on their little faces. YES something to give them hope after all that distruction. This is indeed a great deed that you did for not only the children but for the community at large. Hearing your story makes me believe that I can accomplish the huge task that I'm underatking, even with all the difficulties that I'm expereincing with my board right now which I will share with folks at a later date.
Right now I fight and move forward to make this all come out right for the children in my own community and I will keep moving forward. You are such an inspiration to all of us.
Thanks so much for the wondreful T-shirts I gave one to each of my staff members and a few of my key Volunteers and they were them with pride!
Folks here were asking how your build went and I will share with my families your success stories! I have one big wall in my facility that is strictly for KABOOM updates and I will post your stories and pictures on the KABOOM wall for all of them to see, so that they know just how much the KABOOM community is doing for children all across the nation.
Glad that you had a great build day and keep those pictures coming. I'm working hard here to see it my project momemtum continues forward. One step closer to getting the land and building. Just waiting now for the deed to arrive it's exciting!

Will keep all of you posted. I'm hoping that we get the paperwork in time for me to meet the Challnege Grant deadline will keep it going regardless but I sure could use the help in making this HUGE project all come to light.
Anyway long day here so I will close. Congrats again on your big day!

Anne

Virginia Reynolds

26 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 01 Jan 06 7:38 PM

Dear Anne,

Thank you for your kind email and for the update on your own project up there in Maine! I have no doubt that with your unbridled enthusiasm and joy, this project will not only be accomplished, but you will find that it exceeds your wildest hopes! Daring to be remarkable for the sake of the children is a good thing....I can't wait to hear all about it.

I am leaving for Mississippi again tomorrow...KaBoom! is lifting the hopes of another dispirited town by returning to the Gulf Coast to build a playground for Waveland, Mississippi. It is hard to imagine the destruction of this once pretty little town..There is probably no better way to begin the rebuilding and healing process than providing a safe place for the children to simply be kids again. As well, giving weary adults a lovely place to have a few minutes of respite from the heartache of the storm, is itself, a great gift.

Again, keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress.

Best,
Ginny

INSIDE OUT

108 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 02 Jan 06 4:54 PM

Ginny,
You are so imazingly inspiring! Thanks so much for all the support! Wish I could be there to help all the children in Mississippi! Things here are progressing and we are now working towards the fundraising for our Phase 1 environmental study of the building and land. Have to raise $6000. We are under final paperwork signing and the building and land will be ours. It's all being doanted which is amazing!
I'm truly excited about the project and what it will mean to the children here in cold Central Maine. Especially in the winter months!

Working on grants and hopefully my Public Facility Grant proposal will push through although cutting it the wire on submission, but I know that I can do this!!! Have the faith! That is what my folks have always taught me. Anyway sounds like a great road ahead for all there. Will talk again soon.

Anne

DHammond

23 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 11 Jan 06 9:41 AM

Last year was truly amazing for KaBOOM!. In 2005, we built 173 playspaces, engaging more than 40,000 volunteers, bringing our grand total close to 1,000 playspaces. It was a year of many firsts, including our first playground build in Mexico and the construction of our first ice rink. KaBOOM! was also honored to have been one of the ten organizations (among 1,000 applications) selected to compete in the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award Competition. Using the unrestricted funds from this competition, KaBOOM! partnered with the community of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for an amazing and inspiring playground build in a town almost completely decimated by Hurricane Katrina. On December 17th, I worked side-by-side with over 600 incredible volunteers in Bay St. Louis to construct this playground. After all that they’ve been through, it was wonderful to see the people of Bay St. Louis forget, for one day, the devastation and frustration of the hurricanes, and enjoy being part of a community again. Several residents remarked that this was the first time since the hurricane that they smiled, let alone laughed.

Our build in Bay St. Louis kicked-off “Operation Playground” the KaBOOM! project to build and restore playgrounds in regions devastated by the hurricanes. The goal of “Operation Playground” is to give children back their childhoods and help communities rally around something positive they can do to improve their situation. Over the next two years we will work with communities and funding partners to construct 100 playgrounds in the Gulf, including blitz-builds to mark the anniversary of Katrina. I am looking forward to our next build in Waveland, Mississippi on December 9^th!

In addition to “Operation Playground,” KaBOOM! has many other exciting plans for 2006! In Bay St. Louis, KaBOOM! introduced our first-ever “Dino Dig,” a dinosaur-themed sandbox where kids dig for hidden fossils. In 2006, KaBOOM! will push the envelope on creativity and design innovation with the introduction of additional new playground features and concepts. We will also continue to make progress on our “1,000 Playgrounds in 1,000 Days” project with The Home Depot. Finally, KaBOOM! will be celebrating with a bang our 10th Anniversary in 2006. Be on the lookout for details as we kick-off our celebration of a decade of play.

DHammond

23 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 21 Jan 06 7:20 AM

Last week, I headed down South with fellow BOOMERS!, Meghan Fugate for our second “Operation Playground” Design Day in Waveland, Mississippi. The first through fourth graders at St. Clare Elementary School who participated in the planning can’t wait to swing, slide and have a ball at their new playground. Design Day was held in a classroom at St. Clare Elementary School, which, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, consists of several rows of FEMA tents – see pictures at http://www.stclareelementary.org/. The playground, in partnership with City of Waveland and Motorola, will be built February 9^th!

INSIDE OUT

108 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 25 Jan 06 3:42 PM

Darrell,

I sure wish that I could have been there with all of you great folks to help with building such an amazing playground. It's this project that has truly inspired me on the importance of my own project and how it's so badly needed for all children to have a safe place in which to play. Even with all the setbacks I'm experiencing with my own project right now I'm still forging ahead and I will make it happen for the children here in my own community.

It's so wonderful all the things that KABOOM is doing to lift the spirits of the children who went through such devastation when Katrinia hit.

I'm so proud to have met and worked alongside all of you while in Oakland, CA and would do it again and again to help children all across our nation. Keep up all the great work that you folks are doing to help all our children grow up to be happy, and healthy individuals.

Anne Quirion

cyngen

35 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 31 Jan 06 7:20 AM

After attending the Bay St. Louis build and seeing the transformation that took place there, I visited New Orleans and saw the destruction first hand. Every where I went I kept my eyes peeled for a possible playground site.

Then the other day I saw a news story on a musicians' village that is being built by Habitat for Humanity. Here's what I remember: It's going to be in the Old 9th Ward in a 5 block square. All of the homes will be for musicians returning to New Orleans. The program is the brain child of Harry Connick Jr. and the Marsalis family (Ellis, Wynton, Branford).

I'm going to check in with Habitat and see what they think about a playground. I'm pretty sure I saw that there was to be a park right in the middle. Wouldn't it be cool to have President Carter there for a build. I think he's still pretty tied in with Habitat.

Anyway, I'll look into it and post what I find out here.

anonymous

0 posts

Joined
1/1/0001

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 01 Feb 06 7:20 AM

cyngen wrote

Every where I went I kept my eyes peeled for a possible playground site.

Cynthia -- first, what a wonderful project the musicians' village is for New Orleans. And, I'm struck by how you've integrated looking for PlaySpace build opportunities organically into your activities.

(You get a gold star!) It's a stroke of genius to think about partnering with Habitat for Humanity on a PlaySpace project. Does this organization think about PlaySpaces as part of its planning process? If they don't, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if they began to do so and worked with KaBOOM!ers to get them built?
-Nan

Virginia Reynolds

26 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 04 Feb 06 3:32 PM

Nan and Cynthia,

I had an incredible conversation the other day with Katie Warren, principal of the Hancock North Central Elementary School in Kiln, Mississippi. I called to ask how she and her school community were doing after having not only a KaBoom! playground blitzed in, in a matter of weeks, but also a visit from Mrs. Bush and the Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. I first met Katie in early August, when my friend and I visited her to give her the good news that my friend's elementary school in Norwell, MA, would be raising money and sending supplies to aid in their recovery. Katie is by nature a sweetheart and an optimist.. She tends to imagine the possibilities and probably expects the miracles... She stumbled to find the words to thank KaBoom! for the gift they had given the school. "You've lifted our spirits." "You have given us hope again." "Our three year olds with learning disaibilites can race around the beautiful new playground, being kids, just like everyone else." This is the brilliance of KaBoom!..It allows communities like those along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to to dream the improbabilities, to believe that life will improve. After what I have witnessed in Bay St. Louis and Kiln, I am confident now that anything is possible... And as I speak to friends in other towns along the Coast, they too are eager to experience the magic of KaBoom! and to have the broken spirit of their community lifted from the rubble...

Ginny

INSIDE OUT

108 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 21 Feb 06 3:17 PM

Hello all! It's Anne. I know that I haven't posted in awhile. It's so exciting that the new portal is up and running. I have been working hard on my end on many downtown redevelopment projects since we all last spoke. Right now the status on my project is working on allocating the space and hopefully soon will meet with city folks about finishing our park in the south end.

I'm so excited to hear about all the wonderful playgrounds that are being built there is Mississippi and elsehwhere around the globe. Thanks so much to the folks at KABOOM for making this all happen for our children. We are all so truly greatful for the knowledge and tools that you are providing to make safe places to play for all children.

Stay tuned for my projects updates and I hopefully within the next few weeks will be posting a new name for my project as well. Ill keep you all posted via this wonderful forum.

Anne Quirion

Virginia Reynolds

26 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 22 Feb 06 7:17 PM

Congratulations to Dennis, Zakia and Nan on the new portal..It is just beautiful!

Latest news from the Gulf Coast is that the children of Pass Christian participated in a Design Day for the new playground for Memorial Park, a lovely park overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and the offshore islands. By all reports, it was a great success! This pretty, historic beach town lost 85% of its homes and businesses, so everything has been relocated to the center of the town near the site of the new playground. Everyone is thrilled and the planning committee is not to be believed..They have arranged a band, food donations, landscaping and according to one source, folks are begging to be build captains! Home Depot is teaming up with KaBoom! for this one and it promises to be unforgettable...Katrina swept a great deal away but she will never have the edge over these courageous and spirited people...We'll done y'all and I can't wait for April 22nd!

Ginny

Dennis

57 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 21 Apr 06 6:00 AM

Keep a close watch on the KaBOOM! Web site this weekend and into early next week. The Pass Christian, MS build is on Saturday. We'll be posting stories about the build and some of the immediate follow-up and reactions to it over these next few days.

swelsh

10 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 22 Apr 06 3:27 PM

I'm with you all in spirit! I had heard (and am still hearing) such sad stories about the devastation in the Gulf Coast, and it's great to come and read these posts. And what a fantastic event to coincide with Earth Day (April 22)...look at this statement from the Earth Day Network website:

"In addition to educating and mobilizing communities, each of our major partners also works to train and promote new community leaders. We often work directly with our community-based partners on leadership training at the local level and organizing around local community development issues...Using the 35th anniversary of Earth Day we will highlight issues that affect our target communities such as community development, health, housing, schools, access to decent jobs, livable communities, consumer protection, environment, and worker safety."

The KaBOOM! projects seem to be doing exactly that, in an immediate and tangible way. It seems like a perfect way to begin that process of looking ahead and coming together to re-build.

What lessons do you think people in other parts of the country can take away from the Operation Playground builds? How can we replicate that amazing success in other places?

Virginia Reynolds

26 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 23 Apr 06 4:24 PM

Yesterday, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a venerable park was reclaimed from the harsh hand of Katrina. Memorial Park, the physical and spiritual center of this community, now has a fabulous playground, restored gardens and trees, as well as lovely benches scattered beneath some of the most magnificent oaks remaining on the Coast. Hundreds gathered together to get the job done, and by two o'clock, the miracle was complete. Pass Christian has truly begun the healing and rebuilding process.

The country will certainly soon be taking notice of the amazing partnership between KaBOOM and the Home Depot, as together, by pooling resources, information and energy, are making an enormous difference in the lives of the Gulf Coast residents. Their relationship should be a template of how to get things done on both a micro and macro level. Vision plus generosity plus proper execution will be the way out of this rebuilding purgatory and onward, towards true progress.

Once again...thanks y'all..

Ginny Reynolds

kellymmoore

4 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 01 Jul 06 10:41 PM

Actually, we saw Robin Roberts at the Pass Christian Mardi Gras Parade and she was in an old Cadillac! Wonder if it is the same one?!

robertlc

1 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 07 Aug 06 4:33 PM

As a resident of the MS Gulf Coast, I really appreciate all that this program has done to make sure the children of the area are not left out when it comes to rebuilding and trying to establish some sense of normality.

I'd like to find out if my community of Long Beach, MS has been targeted for a playground project. I've seen the small map on the pages of this site, but it really doesn't help someone to identify which areas have been selected.

Any way I can find this out, or somehow submit our city to receive a rebuild or a new playground?

Sarah Pinsky

8 posts

Joined
11/8/2006

Re: Mississippi Gulf Coast Playgrounds
Posted: 07 Aug 06 8:39 PM

Thanks for writing! While we have limited opportunities, we are actively looking for community partners in communities across the Gulf Coast, including Long Beach. If you know of Long Beach schools, parks or other child-serving nonprofit organizations that are in need of places for children to play, please have them contact Evelyn Furia, evelyn@kaboom.org, to receive a Playspace Profile.

Have you read about our plans for the anniversary week? We're partnering with The Home Depot, Playworld Systems and Hands On Network to build ten playgrounds in the Gulf Coast in just four days, August 28-31. You can read more about it in Megan Taormino's blog on the homepage. And let us know what you think! Will the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina be a wake up call to the rest of the country that there are still needs in the Gulf Coast? What does the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina mean to you?

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