 Playground designed by kids; built by volunteers
On Feb. 7, more than 200 volunteers from Chrysler, The Chrysler Foundation, and Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships joined organizers from KaBOOM! and more than 175 residents of Oakland, Calif. to build a safe new playground for children in the area.
The build came right before the National Automotive Dealer’s Association convention, which began on Feb. 8. Dealers from across the country as well as those from the Bay Area arrived at 9:30 a.m. and were greeted with a big round of applause from the community volunteers. Chrysler support staff, retirees, and Foundation personnel were also there to lend a hand. After joining their teams and coming together for a kick-off ceremony featuring Bob Nardelli, Chairman and CEO of Chrysler LLC, the DJ started playing music to get the crowd revved up and everyone got to work.  Working side-by-side with community members under the direction of KaBOOM! project managers, the enthusiastic folks from Chrysler assembled an amazing array of colorful equipment and laid down 210 cubic yards of safety surfacing (often called mulch) to make sure that area kids have an exciting place to play (as well as a safe place to take the occasional tumble!).
With giant plastic boulders and a PlayWeb for climbing, the 4141-square-foot “Outdoor Adventure” playground completely transformed a neighborhood park that had been abandoned for more than 20 years. The new playground will provide hundreds of children in the Oakland community with a much-needed place to gather and play. Among the volunteers from Chrysler were: Bob Nardelli, Chairman and CEO; Jim Press, Vice Chairman and President; Steven Landry, Executive Vice President – North American Sales; and Frank Fountain, Senior Vice President – External Affairs and Public Policy. Oakland City District 6 Council Member Desley Brooks helped bring the community together to raise the funds and volunteers they needed to provide for the day and helped coordinate all of the on-site logistics. She also oversaw planning committees made up of teachers, parents and representatives from Chrysler. During her remarks at the closing ceremony, Brooks gave a heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers that came out, and explained how important it was for the community to come together and invest in a project like this. The mayor of Oakland also came by to visit the site and thank the volunteers. In addition to the VIPs, area preschoolers and third graders made a special trip to the site to personally thank volunteers with handmade cards and banners. Although they can’t play on the structure until the concrete sets, they eagerly talked about what piece of equipment they were going to try out first as soon as the playground opened. Click here to see photos from the build. Click here to see photos from the Chrysler build last November. |