Archive News
KaBOOM! and DJR Foundation Bring the Gift of Play to Four New Orleans Schools
On Saturday, Mar. 8, at Arthur Ashe Charter School (formerly New Orleans Charter School), KaBOOM! and the DJR Foundation completed our fourth playground project together at New Orleans schools. The four-build partnership began Dec. 15 with a playground build at Schaumburg Elementary School in New Orleans East and also included projects on Jan. 19 at Esperanza Charter School, and Feb. 16 at Bauduit Elementary School. More than 1,000 elementary school students in New Orleans now have great places to play thanks to the generosity of the DJR Foundation and the hard work of nearly 900 volunteers!
The DJR Foundation, established by Robert and Shirley Haspel, supports a variety of causes related to children including early childhood education and youth development programs in the New Orleans area.
See photos from this build.
Three Playgrounds Built January 19
KaBOOM! partnered with NBA Cares, the DJR Foundation and Bain Capital Children’s Charity in New Orleans and Gautier, Miss. to build three playgrounds on January 19! Our outstanding volunteers were undeterred by the unseasonably cold and rainy day.
Click here to read an editorial from the Mississippi Press about the project at Gautier Elementary School.
Click here to view a video of the Stallings build by Charlie London of katrinafilm.com.
For more information about these and other projects, contact Sarah Pinsky (sarah@kaboom.org), director, Operation Playground, 312-822-5871.
KaBOOM! Marks 50th Operation Playground Build with Help From Live With Regis and KellyKaBOOM! is pleased to announce that on May 21, we celebrated our 50th Operation Playground build in partnership with LIVE with Regis and Kelly and Disney-ABC Domestic Television at Drew Elementary in New Orleans, La.! Since its launch in December 2005, Operation Playground has provided more than 17,500 Gulf Coast children with great places to play thanks to the participation and leadership of more than 25,000 volunteers. We've accomplished a lot, but there is still much more work to be done! Help KaBOOM! achieve our goal to provide every child with a safe place to play within walking distance.
KaBOOM! and Fannie Mae Had a Day of Play in the City
More than 1,500 Volunteers Build New Playgrounds at Six New Orleans Elementary Schools in One Day
Even with some unexpected weather challenges, students at six New Orleans elementary schools now have new places to swing, slide and play. On February 13, more than 1,500 volunteers built playgrounds at schools across the city . These six new playgrounds will provide a great place to play for nearly 36,000 New Orleans children. Learn more here, and visit the project websites of the six schools below.
Martin Behrman Elementary Charter School
John Dibert School
McDonogh #32 Charter Elementary School
Benjamin Banneker School
Einstein Charter School
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
See the pictures from the buildshere.
KaBOOM! Begins 2007 with NBA BuildNBA legends and volunteers helped KaBOOM! with its first 2007 build. Learn more about the great new playground at Lake Forest Charter School in New Orleans.
Volunteers Turn Out for Post-Thanksgiving Build
The day after Thanksgiving, with bellies still full of turkey and pumpkin pie, volunteers lined up in droves to build a playspace for the Happy Kids Preschool in New Orleans ─ and to burn those Thanksgiving calories! The build was done in conjunction with State Farm and the State Farm Bayou Classic football game.
After several days of cold weather, Friday’s builders awoke to a gorgeous New Orleans morning. Whether it was the comfortable temperatures or a lingering “thankful” spirit that motivated them out of their tryptophan-induced slumber, over 200 energetic volunteers arrived on site (211 adults/44 kids to be exact) ready to give back to this Katrina-ravaged community.
KaBOOM! project manager Meg Keaney said the morning started with one of her most upbeat kick-offs ever. “It just felt like the perfect thing to be doing the day after Thanksgiving,” she said.
The volunteers went to work on the red, white, and blue playground with an amazing force. The kids got into the act as well, making several hundred thank-you cards, the paper chain “ribbon,” and “the most amazing mosaic squares ever!” according to Meg.
During the ribbon cutting, Happy Kids' Deborah Irabor cut her speech short, saying with emotion that “there are no words." As the volunteers listened and reveled in all they accomplished in just one post-Thanksgiving day, they were given a handmade card by one of the children filled with more thanks for their first true gift of the holiday season — the gift of play. Check out photos of the day!
Volunteers Spend National Make a Difference Day Building a Playground in Kiln, Miss.
During Hurricane Katrina, both Gulfview Elementary and Charles B. Murphy Elementary Schools in Hancock County, Miss., were destroyed, leaving the school district no choice but to combine the schools and open a temporary facility. On Oct. 28, more than 200 volunteers celebrated National Make a Difference Day by building a new playground at the combined Gulfview – Charles B. Murphy Elementary School in Kiln, Miss. The project was made possible by the Rotary Club of Stennis Space Center, who enlisted additional financial support from clubs all over the world. The new playground will provide more than 550 children who attend Gulfview – Charles B. Murphy Elementary School a safe place to play. The project was the 25th built by KaBOOM! in the Gulf Coast through Operation Playground.
Take a look at photos from the day! Read an MSNBC.com blog by Steve Harper, a Gulfview Charles B. Murphy Elementary teacher who volunteered at the build.
We Did It!
Thank you.
Through the generosity of our friends and supporters from across the United States, KaBOOM! has raised more than $505,000 to support Operation Playground, our mission to return the gift of play to more than 50,000 Gulf Coast children whose childhoods have been shattered by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
This support will be matched by a landmark gift of $500,000 from an anonymous Mississippian and will enable KaBOOM! to rebuild eight playgrounds in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi this year – and many more in 2007.
This million-dollar success marks a great start to our project. We hope you'll stay connected over the next year, as KaBOOM! works to rebuild 100 playgrounds in all - and bring thousands of Americans together to touch the lives of children across the Gulf Coast and let families know that they have not been forgotten.
Play It Forward!
An Anniversary Week "Thank You"!
By Darell Hammond
This past week has been truly amazing for KaBOOM!, the Gulf Coast and Operation Playground. Together with our partners, The Home Depot, Hands on Network and Playworld Systems, in four days we helped transform 10 playspaces in seven Gulf Coast communities with the help of 3,115 volunteers. We put up eight eight structures, plus 25 slides, 27 swings, three dino digs, two playwebs and one LifeTrail (our first-ever, but more about that later). In temperatures that rarely dipped below 90, more than 1,400 cubic yards of mulch (enough to fill 16 semi-trucks!) was moved and nearly 1,300 bags of concrete mix (104,000 pounds) all by hand.
Read more and be sure to log in so you can leave a comment!
Take a look at the Anniversary Week Photo Galleries.