The results are in for a nationwide video competition sponsored by KaBOOM!, the national nonprofit dedicated to saving play, and Let’s Play, a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to get kids and families active nationwide. From April 21 through May 10, ten communities competed for votes in an interactive voting competition, with the top five winning a $15,000 playground equipment grant.
Over the course of the contest, members of the public could cast one vote per day for the video of their choice. The five communities receiving Let’s Play Playground Grants are:
- A M Waddington Elementary serves Riverside, Rhodes Island, a tight-knit community within the city of East Providence. Currently, their only play equipment consists of a triple pull-up bar and some basketball hoops.
- Capitol Hill Elementary is located in Southwest Portland, Oregon, and serves more than 350 students. Their grant will go towards a playground so their children aren’t confined to playing asphalt games.
- Dunbar Intermediate School is housed in what used to be a middle school, but when the school board consolidated schools, the third, fourth and fifth graders who came to the school had to nowhere to play.
- O.K. Ward Park is a public playground in Pocatello, Idaho that residents want to make “all inclusive” so that handicapped children can have a place to play. Residents supporting a little girl named Brooklyn Fisher, who has spina bifida came out in force to support the project.
- Martha Lake Elementary in Lynnwood, Washington has to remove their old playground because of safety concerns, but had no money to replace the outdated equipment.
The five winners will each receive a $15,000 equipment grant funded by Dr Pepper Snapple Group as part of its Let’s Play initiative. The first Let’s Play initiative is a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM!. Together, through Let’s Play, DPS and KaBOOM! will build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America.