The Issue: Limited Access to Parks and Play Spaces
Eighty percent of census blocks do not have a park within a half-mile radius, according to a 2010 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This limits the available space that young people have to engage in physical play—an activity with numerous physical, social, and cognitive benefits. The same report suggests that increasing access to parks, playgrounds, and recreation centers can lead to more outdoor play and fewer instances of obesity among children, and may inspire other healthy lifestyle choices such as biking and walking for transportation.
The Campaign: Building Playgrounds for Local Youth
If you donate $10 or $25 to this Grassroots campaign, then you will receive a credit equivalent to twice your donation to help KaBOOM! build the playground of your choosing among projects listed on Our Dream Playground, thanks to matching in-kind donations from four playground-equipment companies. Donations will be matched with everything from swing sets to bolts by Miracle Recreation Equipment Company, Playworld Systems, Burke Premiere Play Environments, and Landscape Structures. In some regions, these companies will match donations only to a specified total donation amount, after which the credit you receive will be equivalent to the amount of your donation.
KaBOOM! leads approximately 200 volunteer-run playground builds every year through the online fundraising platform, Our Dream Playground. This site also offers step-by-step instructions on how to build a playground. After all the funds are raised and the equipment is gathered, KaBOOM! will lead a one-day build session, complete with food and kids’ activities, finishing with a operational playground.
Donations will be matched in-kind by Miracle Recreation Equipment Company, Playworld Systems, Burke Premiere Play Environments, and Landscape Structures.
Check out more Groupon Grassroots campaigns here.
KaBOOM!
Shortly after he moved to Washington DC in 1995, Darell Hammond read about two children—4-year-old Iesha and 2-year-old Clendon—who had suffocated in an abandoned car. They were apparently there because they had nowhere else to play. Spurred on by this tragedy, Darell formed an organization that would eventually become KaBOOM!, and helped build its first community playground a few months later at Livingston Manor in southeast DC. Since then, KaBOOM! has led the construction of more than 2,000 play spaces in communities across the country in order to provide young people with safe environments for outdoor play. The organization works with local volunteers and donors to construct playgrounds inspired by youth and built by community members. KaBOOM!'s vision aims for every child in America to have a place for physical play within walking distance of their home.