Thousands of children across the country will receive great new places to play thanks to a partnership announced today between Mutual of Omaha Foundation and KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization dedicated to bringing play back into the lives of children.
The partnership will result in seven new playgrounds built across the country by volunteers that will provide 52,500 children with a great place to play. KaBOOM! will work with Mutual of Omaha and the Mutual of Omaha Foundation to build two playgrounds in Omaha with additional playgrounds to be built in Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, St. Louis and Tampa.
The partnership kicks off on Feb. 5 in Omaha with a Design Day at The Salvation Army’s Camp Eppley facility where children will gather to draw their dream playgrounds. Elements from those drawings, and subsequent Design Days, will be incorporated into the final designs for each of the playgrounds.
More than 1,400 volunteers from Mutual of Omaha and the surrounding communities will work together to build the seven playgrounds, moving more than 272,000 square feet of safety surfacing, mixing more than 140,000 pounds of concrete and adding more than 17,500 square feet of playspace in the process.
The partnership coincides with the 100th anniversary of Mutual of Omaha, whose employees will have the opportunity to step out of the office and spend time volunteering at KaBOOM! playground builds and other opportunities.
KaBOOM!, a Washington D.C. based non-profit that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, has helped build more than 1,500 playgrounds, skateparks, ice rinks and sports fields across North America since its inception in 1995 via its innovative community-build model.
“We’re excited about this partnership and ecstatic to be working with an organization like Mutual of Omaha that clearly cares about communities,” KaBOOM! CEO & Co-Founder Darell Hammond said. “We couldn’t be happier that Mutual of Omaha decided to celebrate its 100th anniversary by working with KaBOOM! to inspire communities everywhere to take positive action on behalf of children.”