Foresters, KaBOOM! & Volunteers Build New Playground for San Antonio Children
Child-Designed Playground will Eventually Serve 3,500 Children and their Families
SAN ANTONIO, TX, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ - Children who play at Martinez Park received a brand new playground today thanks to the effort of more than 200 volunteers from ForestersTM, the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation and non-profit KaBOOM! The new playground will serve 3,500 children and their families in the San Antonio community for years to come.
"Foresters is more than a life insurance provider," said Kasia Czarski, Chief Membership and Marketing Officer at Foresters. "Foresters also invests in its members and in communities where they live, such as San Antonio. Foresters believes in creating opportunities for families to spend healthy time together, like the Martinez Park playground we all built here together."
Foresters, a life insurance provider committed to the well-being of families, is funding 20 playground builds across North America in 2010. By investing $1.5 million in these projects, Foresters is partnering with KaBOOM! to build playgrounds that will eventually serve nearly 250,000 children and their families.
The playground at Martinez Park will provide 3,500 children and their families in the San Antonio community with a great place to play. In less than eight hours, the child-designed playground was built from scratch by hundreds of volunteers from Foresters, the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation and the surrounding community. In addition, children and families spent the day playing games and participating in arts and crafts activities. Playgrounds are an ideal place for families to get to know other families and build strong communities.
"We are grateful to our partners and the volunteers for their efforts in making this new playground possible," said Parks and Recreation Department Director Xavier Urrutia. "It's a great enhancement to the existing skate plaza and ball fields, giving families a full range of recreational opportunities in a neighborhood park. Children will enjoy it for many years to come."
"San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation is proud to partner with KaBOOM! and the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation in improving the West Side Community," said Rod Radle, Executive Director of the San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation. "Many families have been waiting for this day and we can't wait to see them using the park."
Thanks to the work of Foresters, the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation and KaBOOM!, children and their families now have a 2,500 square-foot playground to call home that includes features such as a 360 Plastic Spiral Slide, Tic-Tac-Toe Activity wall and Rocky Ridge Climber.
About the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department
The San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department operates the City of San Antonio's recreational and cultural programs and maintains 223 City-owned parks including swimming pools, gymnasiums, sports facilities, recreation centers and the Botanical Garden and Conservatory. The department is responsible for the maintenance of more than 14,000 acres of park land. Its mission is to provide exceptional parks, facilities, programs and services to improve the quality of life for all.
About the San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation
San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation (SAAHC) is a nonprofit organization established in November 1993 to provide housing and support services for low and moderate-income communities in Texas, with special emphasis in Bexar County and Travis County, Texas. Programs operated by SAAHC include: a first-time home ownership education program, first-time home owners program (400 homes built to date), a scattered rental program, multi-family developments, three special housing units for individuals and/or families with HIV/AIDS, and various neighborhood developments. Funding for projects to date have come from a variety of sources including the City of San Antonio (HOME and CDBG), The Fannie Mae Foundation, the Enterprise Foundation, the Kronkoski Charitable Trust, the San Antonio Housing Trust, the CHRISTUS Foundation, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, financial institutions, and individual contributions.
About KaBOOM!
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play. Through community building, the company is focused on giving every child in America a great place to play within walking distance. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,900 new playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, free online trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers - a national network of individual advocates for play. KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
About Foresters
Founded in 1874 as a fraternal benefit society, ForestersTM champions the well-being of families through quality life insurance, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with more than 675,000 members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Unity Life of Canada‡ is a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters. For more information, please visit www.foresters.com.
ForestersTM is a trademark of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9.
‡ Unity Life of Canada, a Foresters company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Independent Order of Foresters
SOURCE Foresters
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