Laurel Street Elementary has been working with KaBoom!, this fantastic organization whose mission is to have a playspace within walking distance of every child. They help communities define goals & design their ideal playground, then work hard to make it a reality through fundraisers corporate sponsors. When it comes together, it does so quickly- the entire construction is done in one day by volunteers in the community- in this case, the school was sponsored by Omnicom Group, who not only paid up, but brought in employees from around the country to help.
This school is just down the street from us, and the only playground equipment they had was for the kindergarteners. The other kids had to amuse themselves on the hot blacktop- and with temps in the 90s and a heat index of 105, a couple hundred of us got to see firsthand just how hot that is.
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KaBoom! brought in truckloads of this manufactured mulch-stuff that had to be spread a foot deep over hundreds of square feet. All of the equipment they brought in was very Technicolor. This one looks like a giant tinkertoy. |
| Working hard in the heat haze. |
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And it wasn’t all playground stuff, either. Lots of improvements were made- this mural was a couple hundred feet long, and we dug gardens and planted as well. |
These girls literally jumped in front of me and started dancing, yelling, “We wanna be on TV!” Well, I told them I didn’t have that kind of clout, but I could put ‘em on the internet. Here ya go, ladies! |
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Charlie levels the playing field and I photograph the videographer… |
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June 14th, 2007 at 8:10 am
What great pictures! I work for KaBOOM! and I really appreciate the fine write-up you’ve given the organization. If you get a chance, visit our website and share your stories with other volunteers at our forums. Check out our Playspace Finder tool too! Its a national directory of playgrounds, ice rinks, playing fields, and more built completely by our site visitors.
Thanks again for the great post!