KaBOOM! is teaming up with organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm to provide much-needed places to play for two deserving schools or youth organizations.

As part of the Stonyfield KaBOOM! Double Play Program, one school or youth-serving organization will collect specially-marked Stonyfield Farm yogurt lids to win a $50,000 grant to build or improve a community playspace (details here).

The second winner will be chosen from a pre-selected list of eligible applicants to receive a second $50,000 grant prize.

For the chance to be included in this list of eligible applicants and to be chosen as the recipient of the second $50,000 playground grant for your school or youth-serving organization, you must complete the grant application and submit to KaBOOM! by Jan. 15, 2008.

View the eligibility requirements and apply for the second grant opportunity.

By Nancy Serrand
Code Enforcement Officer/Chairperson, Playful City USA Committee
City of Canton, Ga.

Nancy Serrand is leading a webinar on "Revitalizing Your Playspace on a Shoestring Budget" Dec. 16.

The first hurdle is timing. If you piggyback on another event where your audience will already be on location, you're good to go. We plan our Annual Play Day immediately following the city's Holiday Parade. The parade begins at 1:00 p.m. and usually ends around 2:30. The park is located within walking distance and conveniently visible by patrons leaving the parade. In trying to recruit business participation, we invite them to join the parade and carry signs that say, "Follow us to Family Fun at Heritage Park from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m." This gives families who are already out for the day with their children something to do with the remainder of the day.

Our invitation to businesses includes an opportunity for them to get free exposure. The fee for participation in our Play Day is providing a game, activity or demonstration in exchange for space. They can set up a booth or table with signs and/or displays promoting their business, but they must provide all the materials and volunteers for their activity. There are no opportunities for the sale of any product or service. As a parent, it is frustrating to go to an event to be hawked by your children asking you to buy trinkets, food and other items, especially as in our situation, with the holidays being so near...

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
We want to learn more,
What's KaBOOM! got in store?
Check out all their winter webinars!

Gone away is our playground,
We must build a fun-n'-games-ground,
But we don't know how,
So let's learn how to now,
Regist'ring for winter webinars!

In our city we can build a playground,
Then our kids will laugh and run around,
They'll say "Can we play more?
Love this playground!"
And we'll build it all thanks to
kaboom.org!

But for now, as we wander,
On these topics we must ponder.
To face unafraid,
The plans that we made,
Let's register for winter webinars!

Thank you!

Now that "Winter Wonderland" is stuck in your head, go register for our fantastic webinars, covering the following topics:

• Finding Play in Playful City USA Communities: The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder and Widget
• Extra! Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Working with the Media
• How to Rally Your City to Become a Playful City Part II: Developing an Action Plan for Play
• KaBOOM! Success Stories: Washington Mutual and McKinley Elementary
• Playgrounds, Mental Health and Brain Development
• Success Stories: Volunteer Recruitment with Mara Kaplan
• Grant Writing 101
• Incorporating Service Learning Into Your Build
• Success Stories: Revitalizing your Playspace on a Shoestring Budget
• Making Your Build Day Green
• Fundraising 101
• Volunteer Recruitment: Managing the Process
• The KaBOOM! Road Map
• Safety, Surfacing & Vendors...Oh My!

By Rich Eldred
Wickedlocal.com
Nov 17, 2008

BREWSTER - Wouldn’t it be nice to build the town a playground while sitting down at breakfast, munching a quick lunch or lounging in front of “Dr. Phil”?

Well, it’s a possibility provided you’re a healthy organic diner such as administrative assistant to the town administrator, Doreen Contrastano.

“I eat yogurt every single day, sometimes twice a day and mostly it is Stonyfield (Farms),” she recounted. “I also read everything I eat so one day I was looking at the top – Stonyfield – always has different programs, and this time you could get a playground for your town.”

The Stonyfield contest is in conjunction with KaBOOM! (a nonprofit) and the school or youth group that sends in the most specially marked yogurt tops (from 6-ounce or 32-ounce containers) can win a $50,000 grant toward construction of a playground. [More]

Learn more about the Stonyfield Farms grant opportunity.

By Nanci G. Hutson
Danbury (Conn.) News-Times
Oct. 28, 2008

NEW MILFORD -- Michelle Sanford and Michelle Johnson want neighbors, friends and residents to eat a lot of yogurt between now and Dec. 20.

Not only will it be a healthful addition to their diet, but it could help them build a replacement for the town's Creative Playground. The wooden playscape is considered unsafe and will soon be dismantled.

Stonyfield Farm is offering the school-based organization or youth group that collects the most of the specially marked lids on its 6-ounce and 32-ounce organic yogurt a $50,000 grant to build a volunteer-organized playscape. [More]

Learn more about the Stonyfield Farm-KaBOOM! grant opportunity.

 

By Nancy E. Serrand
Code Enforcement Officer/Chairperson, Playful City USA Committee
City of Canton, Ga.

In order to build a playspace, you need a design that suits your budget. In an economic crunch, it requires that you think about minimum requirements, lots of volunteers and a great deal of creative begging. Here are a few ideas:

1. Build benches and tables using 2 X 6 pressure treated-lumber and 4 x 4 posts.

2. Consider using a "living fence" -- a hedge or fence made out of shrubs. Most large landscapers, when doing corporate jobs, order far more than they need. Depending upon the type of shrub, 50 - 60 of them placed 4 feet apart will go a long way.

3. When pricing out equipment such as swings, slides and other play equipment, get at least three quotes. Make sure you let the vendor know your financial position in order to create competitive quotes and possible donations...

Did you know?

Organic yogurt-maker Stonyfield Farm is teaming up with KaBOOM! to provide much-needed places to play for two deserving schools or youth organizations!

One winner of the Stonyfield KaBOOM! "Double Play" program will win a $50,000 grant to build or improve a playground, skatepark, basketball court, sports field or other type of playspace.

That school or organization will then help select a second $50,000 grant recipient from a list of KaBOOM! applicants, chosen on the basis of their financial need.

Learn more.

Stonyfield Teams with KaBOOM! to Fund Play Spaces for Two Communities
Fundraising and Grants Blog
Organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm is teaming with KaBOOM!, the national nonprofit dedicated to bringing play back to the lives of children, to provide much-needed places to play for two deserving schools or youth organizations.
 
Stonyfield Teams with KaBOOM! to Fund Play Spaces for Two Communities
Arizona Afterschool Blog
Organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm is teaming with KaBOOM!, the national nonprofit dedicated to bringing play back to the lives of children, to provide much-needed places to play for two deserving schools or youth organizations.

Learn more about the KaBOOM! and Stonyfield Farms partnership.

Organic yogurt-maker Stonyfield Farm is teaming up with KaBOOM! to provide much-needed places to play for two deserving schools or youth organizations!

One winner of the Stonyfield KaBOOM! "Double Play" program will win a $50,000 grant to build or improve a playground, skatepark, basketball court, sports field or other type of playspace.

That school or organization will then help select a second $50,000 grant recipient from a list of KaBOOM! applicants, chosen on the basis of their financial need.

The Double Play Program is being promoted via Stonyfield Farm yogurt lids.

Schools, clubs and other organizations can collect specially-marked 6-ounce and 32-ounce yogurt lids and mail them with an entry form to Stonyfield Farm. The group that collects the most lids will be the winner.

The program ends Dec. 31, so get started collecting lids today!

Learn more.

Stonyfield Farm, celebrating its 25th year, is the world's leading organic yogurt company. Its all natural and certified organic yogurt, smoothies, milk, cultured soy, frozen yogurt and ice cream are distributed nationally. The company advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet. Stonyfield donates 10 percent of its profits to efforts that help protect and restore the Earth. For more information about Stonyfield Farm, its products and initiatives, visit www.stonyfield.com.

Selling food is always a good way to raise funds. Consider selling subs at sporting events. Better yet, have a three-foot sub sale on the day of a special sporting event, like World Series games or Superbowl Sunday. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki.

For once, being arrested, escorted to and locked up in jail is fun and beneficial to your community!  Popular “jail and bail” fundraisers involve arresting citizens and playspace supporters on trumped up charges, escorting them to a public space (jail) and having them make calls to friends and families for “bail.”  All bail money supports your project!

The event usually begins with someone calling “criminals,” informing them of their “arrest.”  Off-duty police officers or volunteers “arrest” the unsuspecting participant, serving them with a warrant. He or she is then whisked off to “jail."  An alternative is to have people make a donation, thereby earning the right to choose someone who will go to jail.  That person then has to either raise enough contributions to match their friend’s donation, or match bail set by a judge.
 
When the participants arrive at the “jail," their bail is set by a volunteer judge. With telephones and telephone books, the jailbirds make pledge calls to friends, relatives and co-workers to earn their bail. Most incarcerations last for one to two hours. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki!

Know someone whose cooking gets rave reviews? How about someone whose desserts are out of this world!? Invite them to host a course of your progressive dinner party. Recruit host and hostesses that live in a close proximity to one another to open up their home in support of your playspace build. The amount of courses you have is endless. Go to one house for soup, then mosey to the next for salad. Don’t forget about appetizers. Then there’s dinner and, most importantly, dessert! [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki.

By Amy Lea
The Camden (Maine) Herald Reporter
Aug. 15, 2008

First-graders at Rockport Elementary School took fundraising for a new playground into their own hands when they combined their efforts to create and raffle a quilt.

Each student in Kim Wickenden’s class made their own unique fabric square this spring. And with assistance from parent volunteer Carrie Hedstrom, the quilt was pieced together, with each student's name sewn on the finished product.

“We wanted to do something as a class where all the children felt like they contributed to the playground and produce something that would also raise money,” Wickenden said.

A total of $801.95 was raised in raffle ticket sales, to fund the new playground at the West Rockport Campus. [More]

Learn more great fundraising ideas!

Non-events have become very popular fundraisers. With so many choices and event ideas available, you’ll be surprised at the number of people who will donate just for the opportunity to stay home! 

What is a non-event? It’s a made-up event that doesn’t really exist. What is great is that 100% of the proceeds go directly to your playspace! [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki!

By Rachel Warner Blosser

Our best fundraiser to date has been a murder mystery dinner called “Montana Marie Gets Gunned Down at 3!”

Many participants wore their best western apparel for the event. The performers greeted the guests in character at the “chili bar.” Following their western buffet dinner of pulled pork, barbecue ribs and chicken, the show began. With props, sound effects and tremendous ad-libbing, the performers presented the show while interacting with the dinner guests. The guests kept track of various clues throughout the show, and prior to intermission, the audience was given the opportunity to question the cast and determine the murderer and motive. After intermission, the murderer was revealed, and prizes were given to the super sleuth who figured out “whodunit” as well as the best-dressed cowboy and cowgirl.

With Scrabulous currently disabled on Facebook, people are looking for ways to show off their vocabularies and word-game skills...and this fundraising event will let them do just that! 

Register individuals and assign them to a team, or register whole teams of four, six or eight. Seated at different tables (each with a Scrabble board and all the letters available), each team starts with the same opening word, and has 20 minutes to fill the board with high-scoring words. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki!

The American Academy of Dermatology's Shade Structure Program are grant awards ($8,000 each) for the purchase of permanent shade structures designed to provide shade and ultraviolet (UV) ray protection for outdoor areas.

Applications for the 2009 grants are now available to download. Only 501(c)(3) organizations that serve children and teenagers, ages 18 and younger are eligible. You can apply anytime between now and April 10, 2009. [More]

By Kim Lawrence
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 31, 2008

A gift from a soon-to-be second-grader and the complaints of a group of parents have prompted Moon Area School District to send a maintenance crew to J.A. Allard Elementary School to draw up a "to-do" list of repairs. In addition, the superintendent has e-mailed parents to schedule a meeting to address more long-term concerns.

Leah Baker, a pupil at Allard, turned 7 years old June 21. She chose to celebrate her birthday by giving rather than receiving.

The youngster donated $200 of her birthday money to the school district to fix her favorite slide in the school playground. [More]

Learn lots of great fundraising ideas in our Fundraising Ideas wiki!

Parents and Kids Want Goods to Sell That Do Some Good
By SIMONA COVEL
Wall Street Journal

For decades, children have hawked candy and cookie dough to friends and family to help fund extracurricular activities and school playgrounds.

Now a handful of entrepreneurs have set out to change that paradigm, offering ecologically friendly products for kids and parents to sell for school fund-raisers. From recycled wrapping paper to fair-trade coffee, the business owners are pitching the products as viable fund-raising alternatives for schools. [More]

Learn more about fundraising ideas and opportunities.

This hilarious, interactive game can result in huge donations for your playspace project. Community members such as students, parents, etc., pay to have a big pink flamingo in their neighbor’s or schoolmate’s front yard. In order to have the flamingo removed, the person that received the flamingo has to pay $5 to have it removed and placed in another yard. You’ll need more than one flamingo to start this game, or you can use your school’s mascot or anything else that has meaning to your community. Folks will love going out in the morning to see who got “flamingoed” the night before. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki

Get local celebrities to dance for your playground! One playground committee had a disco theme and paired their event with a silent auction, raising $15,000! Encourage collaborative dances from various city officials. Choreography isn’t necessary – a lot of people know (but may not admit they know) how to do the Electric Slide, the Hustle, and the Macarena! [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki!

Children LOVE trucks—their flashing lights, big wheels, loud noises! Bring the excitement of real trucks to children in your community. Families will appreciate the opportunity to let kids see and touch for themselves! [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki.

Every one loves balloons and prizes. Put the two together and you have a “popping” good time! Insert a slip of paper into each balloon. Some slips of paper will be blank while others list a prize the lucky popper has won. Prizes can range from the very simple, like candy or small toys, to money. It’s up to you! [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the KaBOOM! Fundraising Ideas wiki.

Ask your local grocery store to support your project by allowing you and other volunteers to bag groceries for an afternoon and collect tips for your playspace. Give each bagger a tip jar and display signs to tell customers what you are doing by the check-out aisles and the front of the store. This is a great way to heighten your community’s awareness about your project. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the KaBOOM! Fundraising Ideas wiki.

One of the biggest challenges facing any community-build playground project is fundraising. That is why KaBOOM! offers communities occasional grant opportunities to begin or complete playspace projects.

Here are our two current grant opportunities:

KaBOOM! - Grable Foundation Grant
The Grable Foundation and KaBOOM! are joining forces to offer an exciting grant opportunity to qualifying organizations in Allegheny; Butler; Beaver; Washington; and Westmoreland counties in Pennsylvania. This grant program demonstrates the Grable Foundation’s commitment to supporting community-based groups with a desire to build fun and healthy community playgrounds, and exemplifies how KaBOOM! empowers communities with the tools, knowledge and the inspiration necessary to create great places to play. There are two grants left! Download the application here.

Yet another reason to attend a WE Play! near you - $7,500 grants available! (Sponsored by KOOL-AID)
Do the kids in your community need great places to play? If your answer is YES, then sign up for one of our FREE Workshops Entirely on Play (WE Play!).

At select WE Play! events sponsored by KOOL-AID, (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston and Cleveland), applications will be available for five $7,500 grants toward building a playground in their community! Only WE Play! attendees are eligible to apply.

At WE Play!, you’ll learn how to plan, fund, and complete a community-build playground project AND advocate for more play in your community.

With the generous support of our partners KOOL-AID and The Home Depot, we've got FREE trainings scheduled across the country including Houston (July 10), Cleveland (Aug. 7), and Atlanta (Aug. 21) in the coming months. Get started on the path toward building a great playground today!

At select upcoming WE Play! events sponsored by KOOL-AID, five attendees will receive $7,500 grants toward building a playground in their community! These grants are available at the following events:

• Houston (July 10)
• Cleveland (Aug. 7)
• Atlanta (Aug. 21)

Learn more and register here.

Make your playspace dreams come true with the help of our webinars! From ideas for promoting play in your community to fundraising to working with the media, we've got you covered.

We've just announced some great new (free!) webinars. All you need is a phone and an Internet connection to participate!

Webinar topics for this summer include:

• Revitalizing Playspaces, Becoming Part of the Urban Parks Movement
• FUNdraising 101
• Becoming a KaBOOM! Community Partner
• Making the Ask: Getting Business Sponsorships
• EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It! Working with the Media during Your Playground Project
• Grant Writing 101

Register today!

KaBOOM! Web team + Bloxes, cups, and wads of paper = fun for all!
The KaBOOM! web team has set up a fun game in their pod using Bloxes, cups, and little wads of paper. How do you and your coworkers have fun? 
 
You can't spell "Forums" without "Awesome posts"
Among the highlights:

• Looking to volunteer? Help out tcla!
• Ideas for summer fundraisers
• Advice on how to ensure play exists in your community 

Did you know?
When viewing someone's profile, you can send them a private message by clicking this button: 
 

Want to check your own messages? Login and click the "My KaBOOM!" button on the top of every page. On the left side of the page, you'll see something like this:

Simply click those buttons to check your messages!

Beacon residents raising funds for playground equipment
By DUANE NOLLEN
The Oskaloosa (Iowa) Herald
May 9, 2008

OSKALOOSA — The city of Beacon needs some new playground equipment at the City Hall grounds, and Jennifer Thomas-Maxwell has been working for about a year to make it happen.

...

Thomas-Maxwell said there will be many family activities during the two-day fund-raising event at City Hall. There will be carnival rides, games, concessions, a bake sale, face painting, a street dance and an auction.

“We’ll also be doing family pictures,” she said. Bubbafly Photography will do the family portraits.

“We’ll have small games. … There will be a greased pig contest Saturday … and a street dance Saturday night,” she said.

Almost 30 local businesses are contributing $4,494 of merchandise for the auction.

...

Read the full article

Check out the fundraising section of our Toolkit for more ideas!

Do the kids in your community need great places to play? If your answer is YES, then sign up for one of our FREE Workshops Entirely on Play (WE Play!).

At select WE Play! events sponsored by KOOL-AID, (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston and Cleveland), applications will be available for five $7,500 grants toward building a playground in their community! Only WE Play! attendees are eligible to apply.

At WE Play!, you’ll learn how to plan, fund, and complete a community-build playground project AND advocate for more play in your community.

With the generous support of our partners KOOL-AID and The Home Depot, we've got FREE trainings scheduled across the country including Charlotte (May 13), Chicago (May 16) Los Angeles (June 5), Houston (July 10) and New Orleans (July 25) in the coming months. Get started on the path toward building a great playground today!

Kids help raise funds for playground
San Carlos children holding joint birthday party for Burton Park

By Mark Abramson, San Mateo County (Calif.) Times

April 27, 2008

Two San Carlos children are holding a joint birthday bash Sunday to help raise funds for a new playground in Burton Park.

Chase Wienckowski and Natalie Williams, along with 30 of their friends, will set up lemonade stands during their 11th birthday party in the park. They plan on holding a competition to see which stand can sell the most lemonade and raise the most money for the playground.

"They wanted to help," San Carlos Parks and Recreation Director Barry Weiss said. "We are getting close."

About $76,000 is still needed for the new playground, Weiss said. The city has contributed $415,000 for the $850,000 project, another $253,000 has been raised by selling naming rights to parts of the future playground and an additional $106,000 has been collected.

...

Read the full article

Discuss fundraising in the Forums!

Dance, auction boost Stratham playground plan

Monday, April 21, 2008
Foster’s (N.H.) Daily Democrat

PORTSMOUTH — Stratham residents and town officials brought out Afro wigs, fake handlebar mustaches, pastel dresses and knee-length stockings for the second Dancing with the Stratham Stars fundraiser Saturday night in the Sheraton Harborside hotel ballroom.

The event, put on by the Stratham Playground Committee and Stratham Recreation Commission, featured disco dancing, a silent auction and a raffle, with proceeds going to the second phase of construction for a children's playground at Stevens Park.

Claire Ellis, a mother of four and a member of the playground committee, led the ceremonies Saturday night. She said the group was hoping to raise $15,000 to cover the costs of adding a large playstructure maze to the existing playground.

...

Saturday's disco-themed event featured a collaborative "hustle" dance by town officials, including Recreation Department Director Tara Barker, the Rev. David Dodge of the Stratham Community Center, Assistant Fire Chief David Emanuel and Selectmen Kirk Scammon. Auction items on display included jewelry, handbags, sports memorabilia, artwork by local artists, pottery and gift certificates to local restaurants.

Read the full article
Find more fundraising ideas
Discuss fundraising in our Forums

Don't miss out: The KaBOOM!/The Home Depot Grant applications are due Tuesday, April 15!

KaBOOM! and The Home Depot have once again partnered to offer $4500 grants to communities building playgrounds by June 1, 2008. Forty grants are available. All playgrounds must be built by June 1, 2008 and must follow the KaBOOM! Community-Build Model. Download the application form here. Applications are due April 15th.

Check out the new "Community Involvement" section of the KaBOOM! online Toolkit, where you can learn how to find great resources in your community for volunteers, fundraising, tool donation, and more!

"Community Involvement" complements all the other Toolkit sections by guiding you through the Asset-Based Community Development process, which helps you and your planning team identify people, associations, institutions and businesses in your community that can help with your playground project.

Share your wisdom with others! If your team comes up with a great idea for an individual, association, business or institution that can help with your playspace project, you can add it to the "Community Involvement" lists of individuals, associations, businesses and institutions to seek out. Each of these sections of the Toolkit can be edited or added to by anyone!

Read the "Community Involvement" section of the online Toolkit.

Update: Note date change

KaBOOM! and The Home Depot have once again partnered to offer $4500 grants to communities building playgrounds by June 1, 2008. Forty grants are available and will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis. Applications must be received by April 15, 2008, playgrounds must be built by June 1, 2008, and must follow the KaBOOM! Community-Build Model. Download the application form here.

Grantees awarded the grant must complete the following:

• Register their project in the KaBOOM! Project Planner as part of the application process
• Create a local project website within 30 days of receiving notification of the grant award, and update the local website through the course of the project
• Create records for at least 10 playspaces in their community in the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder
• Post at least three messages on the KaBOOM! Web Portal Online Forums
• Register 5 Playmakers
• Agree to complete a Vendor Rating System record on the KaBOOM! website upon completion of the project.

Nashua Telegraph

Excerpts:

HUDSON – In the cafeteria at Alvirne High School on Saturday night, Bill "Tank" Emmons was putting on his game face.

"The cops are taking no prisoners tonight," said Emmons – an officer with the Hudson Police Department – brimming with confidence.

"You're going down!" yelled one of the members of the Hudson Fire Department's team. But Emmons was already in the zone, and the comment didn't faze him.

Emmons and his teammates from the police department were preparing for a grueling set of seven events that would put the mind, body and spirit to the ultimate test.

OK, not exactly.

...

All of the schools in Hudson were represented, as was the police department, fire department and recreation department.

Jeremy Griffus, who works in the student support program at Hills Garrison, emceed the event.

Wearing a long, red topcoat, Griffus announced the teams as they made their entrance into the gym. The police department team came out to the tune of "Bad Boys," the theme song from COPS.

Before the games began, local Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts troops from Hudson presented the American flag, and 10-year-old Victoria Whalen, a fifth-grade student at Hills Garrison, sang the national anthem.

...

Sunday, Griffus said they were able to raise a little more than $3,500 for the playground fund.

Griffus said the playground is in need of expansion to meet the needs of students of all ages at the school.

Read the full article

Talk about other fundraising ideas in our Forums!

The U.S. Department of Education has released the 2008 Physical Education for Progress (PEP) Grant application. This program provides grants to initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs for K-12 students in order to help them make progress toward meeting state standards for physical education.

Funds may be used to provide equipment and support to enable students to participate actively in physical education activities. Funds also may support staff and teacher training and education.

Peaceful Playgrounds provides grant writing assistance for PEP Grants. They have supported numerous districts in the writing of successful PEP Grants over the past eight years.

by Ashley Wilson

ASHEVILLE – Seth Olson was always playing. As remembered by students, teachers and parents at Isaac Dickson Elementary, the 22-year-old kindergarten teacher had the heart and soul of a child, and he could frequently be seen traveling the school’s hallways with small children hanging from his limbs.

More than two years ago, Olson died suddenly in his sleep of a heart virus. The school community has since raised more than $75,000 to build Seth’s Playground at the school in his honor. Last weekend, 20 parents and teachers joined in the construction of the playground, which will be ready for children in about two weeks.

“I just think it’s fitting for someone who loved to play as much as he did,” said Susan Shillcock, Olson’s mom, who also teaches at Isaac Dickson Elementary. “The last time we were together at the school was playing on the kids’ playground.”

Complete with a climbing wall, swings, slide and large playing field, the new playground will finally give students in kindergarten through second grade their own place to play, instead of sharing space with the older kids.

Can you imagine collaborating with friends and neighbors to build your community a new place to play? Can you imagine a new playspace materializing in just one day?  If so, a KaBOOM! playspace project may be the perfect opportunity for you!

Thanks to the generosity of our many corporate partners, KaBOOM! has ongoing opportunities for community organizations to build a new playground or skatepark.

We are currently doing outreach to locate potential community partners in cities and towns across North America to create playspaces with KaBOOM! and our corporate partners in 2008. Ideal community partners are usually child-serving nonprofit organizations, but can be community development organizations, neighborhood coalitions, schools or any organization that can mobilize a volunteer force and is in need of a new placespace!

Check out the list of 2008 playground opportunity cities!

KaBOOM! and The Home Depot have once again partnered to offer $4500 grants to communities building playgrounds by April 15, 2008. Forty grants are available and will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis. All playgrounds must be built by April 15, 2008 and must follow the KaBOOM! Community-Build Model. Download the application form here.

Grantees awarded the grant must complete the following:

• Register their project in the KaBOOM! Project Planner as part of the application process
• Create a local project website within 30 days of receiving notification of the grant award, and update the local website through the course of the project 
• Create records for at least 10 playspaces in their community in the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder 
• Post at least three messages on the KaBOOM! Web Portal Online Forums 
• Register 5 Playmakers 
• Agree to complete a Vendor Rating System record on the KaBOOM! website upon completion of the project.

DEALE, MD - The Deale business community has rallied 'round to help Deale Elementary School get a new playground, but the playground committee still needs just $2,000 more to start the project.
A recent mass mailing to area business brought in a slew of donations, ranging from $50 to $1,000.

The students have already raised $14,000 on their own, including the last few thousand through an enthusiastic penny drive, but they are still $2,000 shy of the $16,000 needed to design, resurface and equip a badly needed new playground.

"The efforts of Deale children emptying out their piggybanks has yielded the same amount as the businesses so far," said Marianne Rude of the playground committee.

RAVENNA, OH - One year ago, elementary school students in Ravenna met with an architectural firm and designed their ultimate dream playground.

That dream, nurtured by the non-profit organization, Friends of the Park, will soon be a reality with plans to open the playground June 16.

Beginning June 9, the park will be constructed in a seven-day building bonanza with the assistance of an all-volunteer community effort.

"It's the only park of its kind in Portage County," said Amy Michael, Friends of the Park co-founder. "It will bring people here."

Included in the plans for the playground, from the imaginations of elementary school children, are a castle, a play beauty shop and a bridge separating the two. Also slated for construction are a rock-climbing wall, a rocket ship, a hot-air balloon and play telephones.

The park is currently referred to as "Portage County Community-Built Playground," but naming rights will be offered to the donor who gives the largest donation.

With a projected price tag of more than $200,000, Michael said the project is a complete volunteer effort.
"We'll need 2,000 hands," she said. "This takes us back to the value of teamwork."

Is your community in need of a playground? Do you know of an organization that is in need of a playground? Do you have dreams of helping design your own playground?

KaBOOM! might be able to help. There are a limited number of these oppotunities so we can't help everyone finanically, but if you are in one of the cities listed after the link we might be able to help you.

KaBOOM! brings together parents, community leaders and corporate partners to facilitate the group planning and design of new community playspaces. Our goal is to not only build a new playspace but also to use the project to strengthen existing support networks and to build new relationships within the community.  The approximate 10 week planning process kicks off with a Design Day where the children literally design their dream playgrounds, and culminates on Build Day where volunteers build the new playground in about six hours.  The day begins with an empty lot and ends with a new, colorful and safe playground for children and families alike to enjoy and congregate. 

Read more....

WASILLA, AK -- A new playground going up in Talkeetna this summer will feature the usual playground fare -- swings and slides and monkey bars.

It will also feature items symbolic of the town itself: a grizzly bear tunnel, a bush plane, a climbing wall, even a Volkswagen bus.

"It's just part of Talkeetna's hippie culture, I guess -- a lot of granola crunchers around here," said playground project volunteer Karey Larson.

The children of those granola crunchers and their fellow Talkeetna townsfolk led the design of the playground, under the direction of John Dean, a designer with Leathers and Associates, a company out of Ithaca, N.Y., that specializes in community-built playgrounds.

MONTCLAIR, NJ - On the Spinal Tap scale of 1 to 10, Alma Schneider’s commitment to get a special playground built is “11.”

Schneider is the founder of Parents Who Rock, a wide-ranging organization inspiring Montclair dads and moms to excavate their closeted electric guitars and shoebox-entombed microphones and again take the stage.

She’s leading many PWR members to participate in fundraising efforts to construct a universal playground in Edgemont Memorial Park that will enable children and adults who have physical limitations to have fun alongside non-disabled kids and grownups.

As envisioned, the playground will cost approximately $350,000, of which $200,000 in public funding is available. Parents Who Rock is in the forefront of a Montclair-and-beyond effort to raise $150,000 in donations to get the outdoor facility built.

GREENSBURG, PA - Mike Olbeter said he believes an improved Coulter Playground in Greensburg will attract more children and discourage vandalism and other unwanted activity there.

"It's a good neighborhood, and a lot of kids are growing up there," Olbeter said.

A meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 26 at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art for residents who live near the playground. They will discuss what to do with a $10,000 KaBOOM grant that was awarded to make improvements at the playground in the city's 1st Ward, said organizer Steve Gifford, executive director of Greensburg Community Development Corp.

Gifford said the playground was discussed with neighbors during August meetings of My Neighborhood Program. That state program, known as the Elm Street Program, aims at enhancing areas near city downtown areas.

"One of the things they said they really wanted was improvements to the playground," Gifford said.

FARMINGTON, ME - A trust fund set up by the late Farmington attorney Peter Mills, to be used for improvements and repairs at the Hippach Athletic Field, will donate $4,500 toward a new playground at the park, it was announced Friday.

The donation from the Hippach Field Trust Fund brings the amount raised by Parents for the Playground to $28,735.

Another $4,300 is still needed to purchase and install the playground structure. If swings are included, the total needed rises to $6,300.

Spokeswoman Amy Graham said Friday she is optimistic that the remaining amount will be raised with the help of area businesses and individuals.

"We will definitely build something, probably in June, even if we have to scale back," she said.

DENVER, CO - Money won't be an issue for a high school civics class trying to bring a playground back to the Perk Hill Coffee House.

The nonprofit that owns and produces the annual Colorado Garden and Home Show is giving the students a $10,000 grant to get the project off the ground.

"We love the idea that we do the show and it avails our opportunities to provide these horticulture scholarships and grants," said Jim Fricke, executive director of Colorado Garden Show Inc.

The grant is contingent on the city of Denver making it possible for the popular playground to be re-installed, Fricke said.

"If we take money out as an issue, then the kids can still continue to do their civic duty to try to make it happen, and the city of Denver can take a look at it and not have to worry about the financial aspects," he said.

The list of cities where KaBOOM! has funding opportunities for playspaces has changed recently.

Community Partners are organizations interested in providing safe places for children to play. We work with a myriad of types of organizations, including non-profits, schools, parks, municipalities, neighborhood associations, and other youth-serving organizations. Each Community Partner for KaBOOM! projects must have access to a good location for a playground and bring the energy and enthusiasm needed to plan, fundraise, and actually build the playground.

Think you have a good project for this opportunity? Click here and see if your city is on the list.

WAHPETON, ND - Central and Zimmerman elementary schools in Wahpeton are still waiting for new playground equipment. However funds continue to come in to help toward the Playground Improvement Group's goal of $70,000 by August 2008. Currently, the project has brought in just over $30,000 through fundraising events, business and service organization donations, families of students and students themselves. More than 15 sources have contributed to the project so far.

Although a total of $30,034 has been raised for the project since January 2006, only $25,700 sits in the project's account due to a few items that were already purchased for the two playgrounds. Handicapped access swings were purchased for both elementary schools and the student council purchased a Huskie bench. Also, a new teacup spinner, similar to a smaller sized merry-go-round, has recently been added to the playground at Zimmerman Elementary. The six foot spinner accommodates up to six children at a time, and Elaine Klocke, Playground Improvement Steering Committee member, said the children were all excited about the new addition.

"I don't know if all the kids got rides," she said. "The lines were so long."Now that a few smaller additions have been taken care of, Klocke said they are pushing to get the $70,000 by the end of summer 2008.

STRATHAM, NH - While looking at a sort of nothing article announcing some fundraising efforts for the Stratham Playground at Stevens Park in Stratham, NH, I found an interesting blog. It's a simple thing, created from a standard template on a free "blog" system, but it's a nice looking site.

http://www.strathamplayground.blogspot.com/

They've got the details of their fundraising, including scanned advertising materials. There might be some hints for other communities here.

Here are some other nice web sites that people have created on the KaBOOM! site:

• Broadmoor in New Orleans
• Hailey's Wish of Westminster, MD
• Willett Playground Project of Attleboro, MA
• The St. Stephen's Elementary Playground Project in Halifax, NS
• CC Meneley Elementary School's Slide Into Spring effort in Gardnerville, NV

EMPORIA, KS - One child’s dream of having a massive playhouse could come true this holiday season.

Williams Automotive, Sutherland’s, Countrywide Home Loans, Bill Redeker Construction and Deputy Police Chief Mike Williams teamed up to build the ultimate playhouse to be raffled off. Tickets will go on sale tonight at the Emporia Christmas Parade.

For $5 a ticket, with donations going to the Peter Pan Playground Fund, the playhouse will be going home with someone. The playhouse is eight feet high inside, 11 feet high outside and 12 feet long with a front porch and a shingled roof.

Mike Williams said he hopes the playhouse’s appearance in the parade will generate some interest in it.

“In the end we’ll be able to get enough out of it to make a substantial donation to the playground at Peter Pan Park,” Williams said as he nailed shutters on the playhouse Monday afternoon.

AMHERSTBURG, ON -- The Rotary Inclusive Playground Project continues to move forward with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in Spring 2008. The Playground Committee continues to plan for fundraisers throughout the winter months. On November 30, 2007 we will be participating in the “PA Day Fun “at the Amherstburg Area. Children will be able to take part in public skating and other fun events with part of the proceeds to go to support the playground project.

On Dec. 1 and 2 Meadows by the Lake (9278 County Rd. #41) will be hosting a couple of fundraisers to support the project. On Saturday night December 1st “WhaddaKnight DJ” Reg Minor along with live entertainment will be featured and on December 2 from 4-8pm there will be an All-U-Can Eat Buffet, with part of the proceeds from both events to benefit the playground.

In the new year we will also be moving forward with a couple of additional fundraisers.

GAUTIER, MS -- The chilly weather didn't stop Martin Bluff Elementary students from enjoying the official opening of their new playground Tuesday morning.

About 30 screaming, laughing children scrambled onto the playground after the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony for a new $25,000 playground donated by the BP Pascagoula gas processing plant.

After some students played for a few minutes, all 469 students who were gathered outside paused to yell "Thank you" to BP. The new play area has stairways, tunnels and two slides that were available for all students that afternoon during their normal recess time.

Martin Bluff's playground still has the 16 swings and an old wooden fort from when the school was built seven years ago.

Tracy Walker, president of the school's parent teacher association, said the school applied for a KaBOOM! playground in August 2006, but that plan fell through.

BP "stepped up and said they wanted to be involved in the community," Walker said.

DOVER, OH - Two members of a Dover citizens committee working with the Park Board to build a state-of-the-art playground at Dover City Park revealed their recent fundraising efforts to Dover City Council Monday night.

Beth Aljancic and Jody Niklaus, who describe themselves as “two moms who decided that we needed a park and a playground,” are selling holiday yard art to help raise money for the project.

Their committee, known as Building a Dream, Dover City Playground Project, was formed in April and has raised $4,000 so far. Their goal is $325,000 to replace playground equipment with new age-appropriate and handicap accessible equipment over a rubbery, maintenance-free surface.

TUSCALOOSA, AL - In the middle of the ice storm of 1993, Verner Elementary school teachers, parents and community members got together in the freezing cold and built what they thought would be a playground that would last for generations.

They called it the field of dreams.

It had turrets. It had swinging bridges, a tire swing and multiple slides.

But over the last 15 years, the large, wooden playground deteriorated, with loose, rusty nails barely holding together weathered, splintered pieces of wood.

On Monday and Tuesday, the playground was torn down, much to the dismay of some students.

“They were totally devastated,” said Verner second-grade teacher Elizabeth Welch, who brought her students to watch the construction equipment at work.

Verner Principal Beth Curtis had to get on the intercom to reassure the children that even though the playground was being demolished, it would not be the end of their play space.

WHITE LAKE, MI - When the bell rings at 12:15 p.m. at Oxbow Community School, a mob of fourth- and fifth-graders slam through the doors onto the playground for recess.

They race to the best swings, compete for the best soccer ball and scream like they're at a rock concert.
 
Recently, the school got something it's deserved for a long time — a brand new playground structure to replace equipment that came with the school 35 years ago when it opened.

The structure was donated by Laborers' Local 1076 and Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET), an organization that gives back to the community. The LECET program was founded 10 years ago to demonstrate how cooperative efforts between union contractors and union labor could positively impact a community.

KEARNEY, MO - Fifth-grader Andrew Shepherd smiles when he talks about the new playground at Kearney Elementary School. It has a rock wall and three slides — equipment that fits little kids and big kids alike.

“The first day, everybody wanted to play,” Andrew said. “They were pushing their way through.”

The former playground, which had been in place since the 1970s, was designed for younger children.

“There was nothing for the bigger kids to play on,” said Carol Taylor, a mother of a Kearney Elementary first-grader.

In addition to the new playground, Kearney Girl Scout Troop 3101and the AT&T Pioneers, the volunteer arm of AT&T, painted a new foursquare box and a map of the United States on the ground.

COSTA MESA, CA - The Costa Mesa City Council has approved the construction of the city’s first playground for the disabled. The $1.4-million project at TeWinkle Park will be funded through a grant from the state Parks and Recreation Department and private fundraising by the Angels Charity nonprofit.

Costa Mesa will also contribute approximately $200,000 to the project, said Doug Hansen, who founded Angels Charity with his wife, Jennifer, in 2003.

FT. WAYNE, IN - Fueled with the volunteer staples of coffee and donuts, about a dozen people arrived at Waynedale Elementary School early Saturday to assemble and install playground equipment.

While most of the neighborhood seemed to drowse through the quiet weekend morning, workers on the playground stood beside a looming mound of wood chips that was destined to cushion students who will climb on, dangle from and slide down the new equipment.

In the school’s gym, however, that equipment was still in pieces, though placed in neat piles, as volunteers undertook the daunting task of the “some assembly required” project.

BRENTWOOD, NH — The Recreation Committee and the newly formed playground committee have good news. Members found out the company they had chosen to purchase playground equipment, which is to be installed next June at the Brentwood Community Center, would match funds dollar for dollar for purchasing the equipment. However the equipment must all be purchased and paid for by Nov. 31 when the company's program ends.

"We are really excited about this opportunity," said Recreation Director Donna Gill. "We were not expecting it."

The recreation and playground committees were originally planning to fund raise throughout the fall and winter and hoping to buy equipment to install next spring or summer.

....

"The estimated cost for the playground project is $40,000," said Gill. "If we can raise $10,000 by Nov. 31 and the company will match that and we save $10,000."

The playground committee and the recreation committee met recently to discuss and approve several fund-raising options to achieve the goal. The first is a big ticket raffle. The prizes are a big screen TV, second prize is four tickets to a Manchester Monarchs game, and third prize is a $100 gift certificate to Telly's Pizza. Tickets will be sold one for $10 or three for $20. The committee is selling engraved spots on a commemorative granite sign that will be installed at the playground when it is completed as the second fund-raiser. People can purchase a 20 character space for a donation of $100 or more.

"Also Joe from Brentwood Farms Greenhouses will be at the Rec. center on Nov. 29 to offer a boxwood Christmas tree decorating class to residents for $20 and he is donating the proceeds to the playground fund," Gill said.

LAWRENCE, KS - Hillcrest School students, teachers and parents will be getting exercise Wednesday while trying to help keep a traditional Lawrence playground looking good.

The students will participate in the first Hillcrest Hawk Walk at Centennial Park aiming to raise funds to help paint equipment at Hillcrest’s Ryan Gray Playground for All Children, the only wheelchair-accessible playground in the city.

Wednesday’s walk will replace the school’s annual fall fundraiser.

“We wanted to do a walk because it just seemed healthier and more fun than hoisting around boxes of cookie dough,” said Julie Warren-Ward, the school’s PTO president.

Several schools have modified fundraisers to be more in line with the district’s wellness policy, she said. The students have asked family, friends and neighbors for donations in recent weeks, and parents have sought sponsorships.

The walk will be a start at funding about $6,000 for the PTO budget and about $15,000 to repaint part of the playground equipment. Warren-Ward said the PTO would re-evaluate how to proceed after the money is counted from the walk.

BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ - Ayear ago, the Drum Point Road Elementary School playground was in desperate need of a face-lift. Rusted swings and slides sat on sand littered with glass and trash.

Today, that playground has been transformed into a recreation jewel that will benefit the school's students and the entire community, thanks to a joint effort between the township, the Board of Education and the Drum Point PTA.

"My hope is that each person will look at the space and envision what the space can be for them," said Principal Susan Genco. "The opportunities to think outside the box are endless."

The playground features a meandering path that leads from the school's building to a gazebo and small amphitheater, which can seat the entire student body of the school, or about 200 adults. Kirk Danielson of T&M Associates, Middletown, designed the playground.

New equipment, including a large jungle gym and swings, now sits on bonded rubber safety surfacing.

....

The total cost of the project was $950,000 and was financed, in part, through grants and fundraising by the school's PTA.

"We even got a grant for the trees," said Genco.

LAKELAND, FL - It's tough to resist a kindergartner's plea.

At Crystal Lake Elementary School in Lakeland kindergarten teacher Denise Williams came up with an idea to ask corporate donors to contribute money to build a playground at the school for kindergarten students and first-graders. And she let her children do the persuading.

Williams helped her students write their own letters and draw pictures, and she sent 8-by-10 photos of the class and the existing playground to companies with a request for donations.

"I wanted to tug at the heartstrings," Williams said.

Her plan worked.

Health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield and railroad company CSX each contributed $15,000, Wal-Mart donated $1,200 and $2,500 came from the Votum Foundation, a Lake Wales charitable organization run by developer Larry Maxwell.

BURNSVILLE, MN - Pickles, pies and pennies provided funds for a new playground at Gideon Pond Elementary School in Burnsville. The new playground replaces one from the 1960s era.

Over the past year, students, families and staff members raised $46,000 to pay for the playground. Fund-raising efforts included sales of “Principal’s Pickles” by retired principal Carol Determan and current principal Laura Pierce. Students sold pie certificates, and families brought in coins for a “Pennies for Pond Playground” event this fall. The largest fund-raiser was a Math Fact-a-thon, which collected more than $15,000 while boosting the math skills of students. Contributions also came from local businesses, civic organizations and school alumni.

The new playground was installed in September, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Oct. 30. 

(Photo by Jessica Wilson on Flickr)

SALISBURY, MD - Jake Becker's canary yellow hoodie stood out against the pavement.

After snatching the blue rubber ball, the 8-year-old boy found himself in a white painted box surrounded by envious classmates.
 
His buddy, Luke Thornes, reached his hands through the crowd and retrieved the ball seconds later.

"Yeah, I want a new play center," Becker said, taking a deep breath. "I want to have bigger slides, new seesaws, a better basketball court and get a bigger four-square."

"With real basketball hoops," Thornes, 7, added.

Despite Fruitland Primary School's "antiquated" playground equipment, the second-graders relish recess, which promotes social interaction and physical activity, said Principal Darrel Morris.

The percentage of overweight youths has tripled in the past 25 years, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research indicates that about 60 percent of overweight children ages 5 to 10 have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor, while 25 percent have two or more.

If the trend continues, the CDC predicts the current generation of children may be the first ever to have a shorter projected lifespan than their parents.

In an effort to boost the student activity level, area schools are purchasing new playground equipment designed to burn more calories during the 30-minute recess time span.

( Read more to find out how they are raising the funds to pay for the new equipment.)

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - When you're an elementary student, one of the best parts of the school day is playing outside during recess. But until just recently, kids at Upland Terrace Elementary School in East Millcreek only had a few swings on their grounds for all the kids to use.

But recess these days is nothing like it used to be. Just ask sixth grader Griffin Bagley. "Usually recess was just boring and nothing to do,” Bagley said. “But there's this now and it's a lot more fun."

The whole playset is brand new this school year, but it took about three years to make it a reality. Teachers realized how much they needed to add a playground, but they knew it just wasn't in the school district's budget. So they took the issue to the parents, like PTA volunteer Cathy Ehlert. "The school has many needs … it would take years before that was top of the list,” Ehlert said. “So as parents and just the community, we decided to make the effort to have it happen sooner."

They started an all-out campaign to raise money through school carnivals, silent auctions, selling chocolate and cookie dough, and they got the kids to help.

GREENSBURG, KS - After a tornado devastated Greensburg last spring, Spangles restaurant managers decided to do something to help.

The children of Greensburg lost a lot, so building a playground made sense, said Rene Steven, Spangles director of operations.

The playground will be installed today by about 15 Spangles volunteers at Greensburg's Sunset Acre Park.

The tornado left the park "with absolutely nothing there but broken down trees," Steven said.

The project started with the restaurant chain soliciting $1 donations from customers to help the devastated town.

One Wichita customer, an official with Specialty Patterns, gave $5,000. Customer donations ended up totaling more than $20,000 and have been used to buy playground equipment, Steven said.

Others from the Wichita area are helping, too. Cornejo & Sons is donating gravel. Star Lumber is providing timber for a border. Dirtwork Contractors is transporting materials. PG Playgrounds is coordinating the installation.

(Note: I remember sitting in a hotel restaurant, eating breakfast and watching the news stories of this devastating tornado unfold. There are some amazing photos of the damage here. To see the people of Greensburg and Wichita rally together for their kids at a time when they are rebuilding their entire town is really an inspiration. Amy Lee, KaBOOM!)

NEWTON, IL - After spending weeks collecting donations from community members in exchange for their pledges to walk, run or read for specific time periods, Emerson Hough students — along with their families and neighbors — will gather at the school playground Saturday for a Triathafunathon.

“We’re in some very preliminary stages of fundraising for a new playground,” Emerson Hough Principal Jim Gilbert said. “The old fort will eventually need to be replaced. It’s starting to show lots of wear and tear, and we need to create greater handicap accessibility.”

School administrators are in the process of selecting new equipment, and Emerson Hough PTA members have been brainstorming ideas for fundraising activities. Gilbert said PTA members decided to launch the fundraising campaign with the Triathafunathon.

“Instead of selling things, the children make pledges for healthy things they are going to do — read so much a week, run, walk,” Gilbert said. “Kids then solicited donations from relatives, friends and neighbors.”

From 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Emerson Hough students will participate in the running and walking segments of the Triathafunathon. Other fundraising activities during this time will include free games, face painting for 50 cents, pumpkin painting for $1, a blow-up slide for 25 cents a turn, snacks and beverages from 25 cents to $1 and a silent auction. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will include a hamburger or hot dog, chips and drink for $2. Games also will continue until 12:30 p.m., when prizes will be awarded to Triathafunathon participants.

A memorial playground in Missouri would’ve had a much harder time getting off the ground without the support of 20 local organizations who stepped in to volunteer their time, effort, and money.  The barrier-free playspace, dedicated to a local boy who passed away four years ago, is complete after much collaboration between Boone County Family Resources, the Jack Dylan memorial fund, and all of the community’s helpers, including one construction company who donated about $32,000 in services.  Read more about their hard work and success by clicking here.

CARTHAGE, MO - Some of it was hot, some was not, it was made with chicken, pork, turkey and even sausage, and the responsibility for tasting it and judging it fell on two local celebrities and the principal of the Pleasant Valley School.

Elaine Wurst, with the Pleasant Valley Parent-Teacher Organization, said nine contestants entered the school's first ever chili contest, held Saturday at the school's annual chili feed.

Television personality Alan Matthews, food writer Cheryle Finley and Pleasant Valley Principal Brenten Byrd judged the contest.

The top three of the nine contestants split a pot of $36. For the rest of the more than 100 people who attended the chili feed, it was a chance to enjoy some good food and support a good cause.

Kelly Talley, president of the Pleasant Valley PTO, said the group has used the proceeds from past chili feeds and other fundraisers to buy new playground equipment.

"We've had an awesome turnout, and we're hoping this year to purchase even more equipment," Talley said. "Some of the playground equipment we had was over 60 years old. Last year we raised $1,300 at this event, and if we could raise that, it would be great."

Photo by Jenn Potter on Flickr.

TUPELO, MS - Fairpark will get a whole lot kid-friendlier come next year.

The Tupelo Women's Club on Thursday offered to sponsor a playground between the fountain and Tommy Morgan's Coldwell Banker building on East Main Street. It should be installed by next summer, according to Downtown Tupelo Main Street Executive Director Debbie Brangenberg.

The sponsorship was offered during the regular meeting of the Tupelo Redevelopment Agency, the group charged with revitalizing the area that's home to City Hall, the Renasant Center for IDEAs and the Hilton Garden Inn.

Tupelo Women's Club President Michelle Waits said the amount of the contribution is unclear because it will be based on profits from the club's holiday tree program on Nov. 27. Last year, the club raised about $30,000 and split it among various groups.

This year, the 75-member service organization decided to combine its service and philanthropy goals by sponsoring the playground.

The club is leaving it up to TRA to pick out the equipment, and so far, the feeling is it will be a traditional playground with swings, a merry-go-round, a slide and a seesaw.

Photo by dieselbug2007 on Flickr.

LENEXA, KS - For Sunflower Elementary School students, tetherball will never be the same.

Three poles set securely in concrete during renovations to the school's playground — replacing courts of dirt that always flooded when it rained — have made the game a recess favorite recently. The renovations also added two new basketball courts, a new piece of climbing equipment, a safer, mulched play area and a concrete ramp that extends to the base of the hill that holds the playground, making it more accessible to students in wheelchairs than it was before.

These renovations have been funded, for the most part, by a $10,000 grant fourth-grade teacher Linda Irvin received last year for being the Wal-Mart State Teacher of the Year.

“I want the playground to be a place where people want to spend time — a place not just for students during school, but one where parents will bring their kids after school and during the summer,” Irvin said. “This way, everybody is going to benefit (from the grant).”

STRATHAM, NH — The playground at Stratham Hill Park will soon get a new, more modern look as money rolls in to replace the aging equipment.

The new playground equipment, which will cost just under $15,000, was ordered recently and is expected to be installed by Thanksgiving.

Features of the new equipment, manufactured by GameTime, will include a double wave slide, two swings, and a climbing structure.

"The park is one of the central gathering places in town, and the equipment that's there is not only old but also out of date as far as the new safety codes are concerned," said resident Vicky Avery, who has worked on efforts to raise funds for the new equipment along with Beth Salzman.

The new equipment will replace a large metal slide, swings and a wooden teeter-totter at the park.

In addition to funding from the park ranger's budget and the park association, various events have been held to raise money for the equipment. Other fund-raisers will be held this fall, including the Fire Tower 5K cross country race at the park on Sunday, Oct. 21.

Photo by Ann Althouse on Flickr.

STURBRIDGE, MA — The parents of a 4-year-old boy who drowned at a town-run day camp are trying to bring something positive from their tragedy.

Derek and Christina Frechette are the parents of Christian E. Frechette. In memory of their son, the Frechettes spearheaded a fundraising effort to build a new playground at the Sturbridge Nursery School, 518 Main St.

On the afternoon of July 13, Christian was found in a little over 3 feet of water, next to a dock that extended several feet beyond an enclosed shallow area at Cedar Lake. The boy was taken by ambulance to Harrington Memorial Hospital in Southbridge, where he was pronounced dead.

Christian was attending the Sturbridge Recreational Day Camp with his brother, Cameron, who is 14 months older. Christian also has a younger sister, Ashton. His death was ruled an accidental drowning by the state medical examiner’s office, according to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Mrs. Frechette, who said Christian “loved life, loved water and loved to play,” said the playground embodies her hopes that something positive can come out of the loss.

“Christian loved playgrounds and he loved to climb,” Mrs. Frechette said. “I know he would love to see it (the new playground) and I’m sure that he will be watching all the kids playing on it.”

Through donations, fundraising and a grant from the national nonprofit organization KaBOOM!, Mr. and Mrs. Frechette raised enough money to build a new “Playworld” playground structure, which is estimated to cost $15,000, she said.

DARIEN, IL - What do you do when a school playground becomes a construction site?

Motorists driving by Lace School lately know the answer to that question. The front yard at the school, is now where students go for recess due to all the commotion on the west side.

“You have limited space out here,” said Principal Marty Casey, though he added there is some space behind the construction zone. “The PE classes go on the very west end of the property, so they can go out there and do their activities.”

Shifting the playground to the school’s front yard is just temporary, though, a consequence of the new grade-level center plan begun this school year.

After Fairview School closed in June, Darien School District 61, the school yards at Lace and Mark DeLay schools have turned into construction sites to expand those buildings to handle the increase in students.

The restructuring has put all kindergarten through second-graders at Mark DeLay and third- through fifth-graders at Lace. For the time being, Lace’s west side is full of trucks and construction workers, but Casey and the students have begun planning a new playground.

Students this week began a walk-a-thon to raise money for new playground equipment, which Casey expects to cost $40,000 to $50,000. His idea is not just to raise the money and buy new equipment.

“We’re going to have the community build it, because it’s a big chunk of money to have professionals come and build it,” Casey said. “This way you bring in community members to build it, and the inspector approves it. That saves you a ton of money.”

MENOMONIE, WI -- The Menomonie Community is coming together this week to build a playground the size of three houses put together. In the next four days that's what's happening at the River Heights Elementary School in Menomonie.

“I'm very excited about it and never thought Menomonie of all places would get something like this,” said Arla Falk a parent.

A huge playground is being built so children like Arla's seven year old daughter, Kathy, can experience some outdoor fun. Kathy has Rett Syndrome--a neurological disorder.

“There's no place I can take my kids to anymore. She's too big for the infant swings and she can't do the adult swing by herself,” she said.

Arala says the new playground will let Kathy feel more like a kid. She says Kathy can’t do anything by herself but she loves to play on the slide.

Kathy's future playground memories are financed by fundraisers like Bryan Beamer.

“It’s been built for the children of the community but also for children with disabilities and we're really proud of that and are excited to see kids play on it,” said Beamer.

SENECA, SC — The 565 students at Ravenel Elementary will have new playground equipment, thanks to the donation of Schneider Electric/Square D.

The Education Foundation of Oconee County Schools announced that $28,000 has been donated by Schneider Electric/Square D to fund recreation equipment at the school through a grant titled “Playing Our Way to Fitness.”

Larry Smith, plant manager for the Schneider Electric/Square D Seneca plant, said, “It is very important to Schneider Electric to be an integral part of the community. We have several means of giving back to the community for the support that we receive from the community, the primary vehicle being the Square D Foundation. That foundation we have certain amounts of money allocated that we are able to give to various worthy causes in the community. This case, after seeing the great investment that the school district was making in Ravenel Elementary, we decided to apply for a special grant from the foundation of $28,000 to help fund the total refurbishment of the playground.”

EAST WINDSOR, CT - It started with a simple wish by Joseph Stanley for a new playground at his school, Broad Brook Elementary.

And less than 18 months later, on Friday, the playground was dedicated.

Joseph, who's now 8 years old, won $5,000 through a Children's Television Network contest for a new playground last June.

It didn't take long, however, to realize the playground would cost a lot more.

In short order, Joseph's mother, Lynn Stanley, went to work and raised more than $125,000 for a playground for the school.

And it took less than 18 months to accomplish.

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- Students at St. Patrick Catholic School in Springfield are temporarily without swing sets, slides and jungle gyms. However if Norman Calmese and the staff at the Capital City Courier, a local monthly newspaper, meet their financial fund-raising goals, the children will once again be swinging, climbing and playing on brand new outdoor playground equipment.

In July, while the children were on summer break, vandals set fire to safety chips on the ground and around the playground equipment, causing extensive damage. Calmese, the general manager of the Capital City Courier, says he was saddened by the idea that the 57 children in grades K-6 no longer had swings, slides or climbing equipment to enjoy.

"If you go by there at noon, you see the kids just kind of running around in circles," he says. "They don't have anything to play on." That's why Calmese says his newspaper has decided to sponsor a special fund-raising play titled We Fall Down, But We Get Up, which centers around main character of Tony Thomas, who personally experiences the destructive elements of addiction. 

KaBOOM! and America’s Promise Alliance
Team Up to Provide a Playground to One Deserving Community

All 2008 100 Best Communities for Young People Winners Eligible for Playground Prize

WASHINGTON, DC—KABOOM!, a national non-profit that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, today announced at the America’s Promise Alliance’s (the Alliance) 100 Best Communities for Young People National Forum in Washington, DC that the two organizations will team together to give a brand new community-built playground—valued at $70,000—to one of the Alliance’s 2008 100 Best Communities for Young People (100 Best). To qualify for the new playground, communities must be named a 2008 100 Best and a 2008 Playful City USA as part of the KABOOM! National Campaign for Play.

CHESANING, MI - Dig deep between those couch cushions -- Chesaning's Big Rock Elementary School could use the change.

Big Rock students are collecting money today through Friday for two new pieces of playground equipment: a twisting S-shaped ribbon resembling a Mobius strip, the geometric oddity of a ribbon with only one side; and a larger structure with slides, swings and other play stations.

The Big Rock Elementary Parent Group gradually raised most of the $36,000 it cost to buy new playground items over six years, said Dawn Kelley, the group's secretary.

'We just kept adding to the kitty and we got to the point where we said, 'Oh my gosh, we can actually get something,' '' said Kelley, who lives in Chesaning.

(Photo by Jessica Wilson on Flickr)

NEW PORT RICHEY - It's one of those impossible kinds of feats, and Chris Schnapp pretty much knows that. Still, she and her cohorts in the Parent Teacher Organization at Schrader Elementary are giving it a try.

Their goal is to raise $30,000 by Dec. 31 to buy new playground equipment for intermediate students. The old stuff was condemned and wrapped in yellow caution tape in May, then torn down before the start of the school year.

So why the rush?

If the school puts in the order by Dec. 31, installation and shipping are free. And if they have half the cash in hand before that, there's a chance to apply for a matching grant from the playground manufacturing company.

That's a substantial savings, Schnapp says. "And we'd like the fifth-graders to be able to enjoy the new playground this year before moving on to middle school next year."

It's a lofty goal, but then again, this is all about the kids.

(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin | St. Petersburg Times)

Keith Sanders strode up to the still-growing mound of sneakers that had accumulated in Helen Cox High School's gymnasium and chucked his black high tops onto the pile.

The sneakers were only a year old, but the 16-year-old was more than willing to offer them up for a good cause.

"I've got too many shoes anyway," he said.

The pile, consisting of more than 500 pairs of sneakers displayed prominently in the center of the gym, proved a cause for celebration Friday afternoon at the pre-game pep rally in Harvey.

Students had been collecting old sneakers all week as part of a shoe drive that would benefit local playgrounds in New Orleans. At the rally, students learned that they -- along with their rivals at Edna Karr Senior High School in Algiers -- would each receive a free pair of Nikes for participating in the drive.

(Photo by Trent M on Flickr)

Last spring during a classroom break at Fairview School, Sarah Harper said, she wondered how her church could give community children a place to play. Around Pleasant Grove, pastures are many but parks are few.

Her brainstorm was to publish a newspaper and give it in exchange for donations to a playground fund. She told her mother, Karen Foster Harper.

Harper said her daughter dreamed up the paper and has kept it going every week since April 1.

(Decatur Daily photo by Jonathan Palmer)

A year after administrators at Villalovoz Elementary School were forced to pull faulty playground equipment out of the schoolyard, students have taken matters into their own hands.

This week they stuffed old clothes with hay to create 27 scarecrows to compete in the annual Dell'Osso Family Farm scarecrow contest over the next month.

The school has a chance to win thousands of dollars in prize money if one of its scarecrows beats out the 100 on display. The farm will also donate $1 for every combo ticket purchase from visitors with a Villalovoz contest flyer.

(Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr)

The words that came tumbling out of Principal of Wheatland Elementary School Kevin Lane’s mouth during a Grade 6 math class spread like wildfire around the school.

The kids will be knocking on doors around the community in order to get the chance of a lifetime to shave their principals hair. The child that raises the most money for their read-a-thon to raise dollars for a much needed new playground gets to do the deed.

“The school has been fundraising for four years now so it has been a longtime coming. Adding the playground is not only great for the students but people from the community are also welcome to use the upgraded equipment,” said Lane.

Lane told the students if they collectively raise $10,000, matching last year’s efforts, the fundraiser with the highest total dollar amount will get to take the clippers to their principal’s head. If the students raise $7,000 they will take part in a mystery surprise.

There's an interesting new contest where a nonprofit organization called HopeLab is looking for great product ideas that will increase physical activity among middle-school-aged kids (aged 11-14). Anyone can compete, but there are four prize categories.

Product ideas from:

• Middle School/Junior High School
• High School
• College/University
• All others

Eventually, one great product idea will win more than $75,000, but we’ll be recognizing other top-notch entries with prizes along the way.

Not only will there be prizes up front, but HopeLab will help with the actual development of the products. That's the really interesting part. You might actually be able to see your product come to life.

HANCOCK - The Hancock Elementary School PTA's goal to raise $50,000 to replace 30-year-old playground equipment has been reached.

The new equipment will be installed and ready for use by early September, according to Kristen Robison, who spearheaded the project.

The playground equipment has been ordered and is expected to arrive by the middle of this month, Robison said. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be scheduled when all is in place, she said.

Get your local businesses involved with your playspace fundraising! Business owners and employees are community members too, and our experience shows that they'll be more than happy to help with building a playspace. Here are three ideas to use local businesses in your fundraising:  bag for a playspace, car dealer deal, and  fast food fundraiser.

Want more inspiration? Visit our wiki list of 101 Tried and True Fundraising Ideas for more! You can even add in your own ideas and thoughts.

It's easy to feel lazy during these last hot days of summer. But don't let the heat stop you from fundraising for your dream community playspace! We've got some tips to keep cool and raise some money at the same time: Hold a Fruity Fundraiser or host a Lemonade Stand – read on for details.

Want more inspiration? Visit our wiki list of 101 Tried and True Fundraising Ideas for more! You can even add in your own ideas and thoughts.

Swampscott, MA - Harry Potter movies and music that just might appeal to most ages will be on tap for a good cause Friday night at Linscott Park in an outdoor celebration to raise funds for a new and improved Jackson Park playground.

The Jackson Park Neighborhood Association is behind the Harry Potter Movie Night, which will feature music until dark by the local band RedRock and then a Harry Potter movie on the “big screen” in the park, which is at the corner of Humphrey Street and Monument Avenue.The event, to raise part of the $150,000 needed to replace the old Jackson Park playground between the Machon School (now closed) and the new Swampscott High School, is intended to be fun. Funds will come Friday from donation cans and sales of food and drinks.

Nearly every grant proposal requires you to submit a statement of need.  It’s usually the second section right after the executive summary.  Essentially, the statement of need will describe the social, environmental, and/or economic problem that your playground project will alleviate.  This is your opportunity to educate the reader about the issues at hand, presenting facts and evidence to support your project.  Don’t confuse the length of your statement of need with the degree of need; a few concise paragraphs may be sufficient.  Read on for just a few questions you should answer when describing why your community needs a playspace.

Also, read last week's installment on writing the executive summary.

Large fundraising events may take some time to plan but, they’re worth it.  The success of these events usually depends on three things: 1) planning; 2) people; and 3) positive attitudes.  Combine those three and you can’t go wrong.  Want to earn $2,000 or more for your playspace project?  Learn more about these THREE great BIG fundraising ideas! 

- A-Thon Event

- Cookbook Sales

- Silent Auction

There’s a time for math and a time for play. Sometimes the two come together.

At Gideon Pond Elementary School in Burnsville, students are mastering math facts to raise money for new playground equipment.

The school will hold a Math Fact-a-Thon May 11. For purposes of the fundraiser, students will be tested on their knowledge of grade-appropriate math facts.

If mastering math isn’t fun enough, students are soliciting pledges to motivate their preparation.

Chris Witulski said a second grade student at Lincoln Elementary School posed an interesting question recently. He wanted to know why other schools in the area had new playground equipment but Lincoln students were still using swings that were installed over 40 years ago.

The question made Witulski, a playground instructional assistant at the school, decide to take action. She recruited the help of fellow Lincoln PIA Gail Ratz, and the two ladies began a drive to raise nearly $20,000 for new playground equipment.