[Rhodes22-list] Operation Playground

[brad haslett]

OK OK, like there's not enough worthy causes out there
that need money already!  Here's one more.  We've been
busting our arses lately to make some dough but still
take time occasionally to be 'benevolent
carpetbaggers'.  We believe in this project and have
volunteered to move some dirt. BTW, we've met 'blue
dog democrat' Gene Taylor and like him.  Please don't
let that get out. Got any spare change?  Brad

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Operation Playground


To address the vital need for safe places for Gulf
Coast children to play and the lack of community
gathering places, the national nonprofit organization
KaBOOM! has introduced Operation Playground:
Rebuilding Playgrounds; Restoring Childhoods, a new
two-year initiative to build 100 playgrounds in Gulf
Coast communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita.    

KaBOOM! launched Operation Playground on December 17,
2005, as more than 600 volunteers spent a day
constructing a new playground, landscaping and
building picnic tables and benches in Bay St. Louis. 
Since then, KaBOOM! and partners The Home Depot and
Motorola have mobilized more than 1,500 volunteers for
projects in Kiln, Waveland and Pass Christian, with
special guests First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings, Senator Harris Wofford,
Federal Coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding Donald
Powell, Congressman Gene Taylor, The Home Depot
Chairman, President and CEO Bob Nardelli, and NFL
legends Brett Favre and Howie Long.      

Upcoming Operation Playground projects are planned in
Biloxi, Gulfport, Moss Point, Pascagoula, and New
Orleans.  In August, KaBOOM! and partners The Home
Depot and Playworld Systems will build ten playgrounds
in the Gulf Coast during the week of the one-year
anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  

Each KaBOOM! playground is designed by children and
community members and built by local volunteers.  In
addition to the new play structure, projects also
include a number of other park enhancements such as
picnic tables, benches, and landscaping.  In Pass
Christian, residents donated pieces of broken pottery
and china for mosaic stepping stones that now grace
the park.  

In an effort to inspire others to contribute, a
Mississippi donor has pledged $500,000 to support
Operation Playground. Thanks to the $500,000 gift,
donations to Operation Playground made before the
one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August
29, will be matched dollar for dollar, raising up to
$1 million for the initiative.  

For more information on Operation Playground or to
donate, visit www.kaboom.org.



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