Playful Days are on their way, thanks to our playground teammates!
Antawn Jamison can’t get enough of KaBOOM!
Antawn is a champion of play and a recent addition to the KaBOOM! playground team. He is even helping to spread the word about the importance of play and KaBOOM! WE Play! trainings. Antawn Jamison, power forward and #4 on the Washington Wizards, will be building a playground for the kids of Louisiana this September. Watch a video of Antawn building a playground!
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are committed to making Indianapolis a more playful city and will be building a new playground this September. We are excited that the players will be attending the build and hope that Blue the mascot will come out too!
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings will be partnering with The Toro Company to build their third playground together for the kids in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area this June. Viking/Toro build days are so much fun and always marked by the players from the Minnesota Vikings helping out during the day!
NBA and KaBOOM!
NBA Really Cares!
Warm up your jump shot! KaBOOM! and NBA Cares partnered together to help bring play back to three lucky communities in New Orleans. The three builds started in December and culminated with an exciting NBA All-Star weekend build in February. The NBA is committed to bringing play back to the kids of New Orleans, and they are helping to prepare future generations of All-Star players!
NBA = Play in Miami. On January 6th, leaders from the NBA like Commissioner David Stern, NBA Legends Bob Lanier, Jamal Mashburn, Greg Anthony, Bill Walton, and Artis Gilmore volunteered at a KaBOOM! playground build in conjunction with the NBA’s marketing meeting in Miami. This playground was built as a symbol of hope for the community and it will serve the kids of the Children's Home Society of Florida – The Family Visitation Center. It was a wonderful and very heartfelt day all around and KaBOOM! was happy that we were able to be a part of it.
Orlando Magic has a Magical Build Day
The Orlando Magic had a playful day with the kids and community of Santa Barbra Apartments. Over 200 energetic volunteers helped to make Build Day a success and were delighted to meet Orlando Magic players Dwight Howard (who participated in his FOURTH build!), Carlos Arroyo, and James Augustine. The community is very excited to have some “Magic” in their neighborhood.
NFL and KaBOOM!
Madieu Williams’ Day for Play
Madieu Williams, free safety and #40 on the Cincinnati Bengals, built a playground with KaBOOM! through the Madieu Williams Foundation, a fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. Through his foundation, Madieu reaches out to youth and teaches them at an early age the importance of a healthy lifestyle. We had a great time working with Madieu (pronounced: “muh-DEE-oo”) and the community and we are excited that there is a TERRIFIC place for kids to run, jump and stay healthy!
Hometown Heroes
KaBOOM! has teamed up with the NFL and The Home Depot to score a touchdown with the Neighborhood MVP Program. In 2007, 17 players were honored for their charitable works in their hometowns and built a playground or refurbished a field for their community. Congratulations to the 2007 recipients!
Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland Raiders; Gary Brackett, Indianapolis Colts; Isaac Bruce, St. Louis Rams; Daryn Colledge, Green Bay Packers; Brian Dawkins, Philadelphia Eagles; Warrick Dunn, Atlanta Falcons; Lee Evans, Buffalo Bills; John Lynch, Denver Broncos; Rashean Mathis, Jacksonville Jaguars; Kevin Mawae, Tennessee Titans; Kassim Osgood, San Diego Chargers; Antwaan Randle El, Washington Redskins; Jason Taylor, Miami Dolphins; Marcus Trufant, Seattle Seahawks; Hines Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers; Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals; Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys
For more information on this program, please check out The Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP.
2007 Team Play Builds
On November 23, 2007, State Farm, Grambling State University, and Southern University joined forces to build a playground for the kids of Sylvanie F. Wlliams Elementary as part of the festivities surrounding the 34th Annual State Farm Bayou Classic in New Orleans! This was the second annual KaBOOM! build in conjunction with the Bayou Classic, which is dubbed the "granddaddy" of African American collegiate sporting events and the "Super Bowl" of black college football. The game may be a historic grudge match, but off the field, folks from Grambling and Southern worked alongside one another to bring play back to the kids of New Orleans. We’re honored to be a part of it! 
Derrick Johnson from the Kansas City Chiefs joined his friends from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and KaBOOM! to build a playground for the children and families that use the Leslie Unit of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. This playground was built by over 200 volunteers during one very special KaBOOM!-led Build Day filled with great music and fantastic new friends. 
The NBA Cares, Cleveland Cavaliers, Quicken Loans, and Preparing Academic Leaders Academy combined forces and created a fantastic new playground for the kids of Maple Heights, Ohio. There were even a few special guests from the Cavaliers on site to help with the build, including GM Danny Ferry (plus his parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew!), star forward Donyell Marshall and Cavaliers Legend Campy Russell! What a great way for everyone to get involved, make new friends, and give back to the community! 
The Arena Football League Players Association and the Arena Football League joined forces with J.W. Johnson Elementary School to build a terrific new playground for the children in the J.W. Johnson Elementary community. To celebrate the day's accomplishments, the ribbon-cutting featured AFL Commissioner David Baker, NFLPA/AFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw, Columbus Destroyers Head Coach Doug Kay and Quarterback Matt Nagy and San Jose SaberCats Head Coach Darren Arbet. 
Sixty Baltimore Ravens players, the entire coaching staff, and local community volunteers made for one very large volunteer force – more than 350 people – to build a Baltimore playground on June 11, 2007. The kids of Collington Square School, which serves pre-K through 8th graders, were thrilled to have the football players in their school yard all day.
In 2007, the Minnesota Vikings and Toro have worked with KaBOOM!, bringing out the entire team to make a difference in some terrific kids' lives. This year's build was June 8 in St. Paul. Last year their entire team joined the build and moved mulch in record time with a never-before-seen bucket brigade, staffed by Vikings players! 
More than 300 volunteers from the Orlando Magic and the City of Sanford, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the Sanford, Fla. community joined forces on April 5, 2007 to build a new playground at the Boys and Girls Club.