KaBOOM!, the national non-profit dedicated to saving play for children, announced today that the Kraft Foods Foundation will return as a National Partner for the second year.
As a KaBOOM! National Partner, the Kraft Foods Foundation will serve alongside KaBOOM! as a national proponent of the importance of play and will assist in creating solutions to address the Play Deficit that currently exists in thousands of communities nationwide. Today’s kids spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 children live within walking distance of a park or playground. This Play Deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically as well as mentally and socially because children desperately need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy. KaBOOM! National Partners, such as the Kraft Foods Foundation, support KaBOOM! national programs, which have a nation-wide impact on the health and well-being of children and communities. KaBOOM! national programs spread the message that play is critical to the development of children and create solutions to address the Play Deficit that currently exists in thousands of communities nationwide.
“KaBOOM! is honored to have a partner like the Kraft Foods Foundation who is extremely passionate about the importance of play,” said KaBOOM! Founder and CEO Darell Hammond, author of The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. “For 15 years, KaBOOM! has battled the Play Deficit among children and worked incredibly hard to convince people that play is not a luxury—it’s an absolute necessity. We’re grateful that the Kraft Foods Foundation continues to help KaBOOM! strive toward our vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.”
Also for the second consecutive year, the Kraft Foods Foundation and KaBOOM! are partnering to build playgrounds across the U.S. as part of Delicious Difference Week, Kraft Foods’ global week of service. Last year, nearly 25,000 employees volunteered in 56 countries through a variety of events aimed to fight hunger and promote healthy lifestyles in communities around the world. The Kraft Foods Foundation expects those numbers to be even larger this year.
During Delicious Difference Week, from October 3 – 8, the Kraft Foods Foundation and KaBOOM! will build five playgrounds in Chicago, Madison, Wis., Paterson, N.J., Rogers, Ark., and Mount Vernon, N.Y. Each location will benefit from the hallmark KaBOOM! done-in-a-day playground builds involving hundreds of employee volunteers at each location.
“A key part of our mission is to give back to communities around the world, including promoting healthy lifestyles through our partnership with KaBOOM!,” said Nicole Robinson, Vice President of the Kraft Foods Foundation. “We’re thrilled to be funding five more playgrounds this October during Delicious Difference Week to help give children safe and healthy places to play.”