Foresters, KaBOOM! & Volunteers Encourage Quality Family Time By Building New Playground for Fullerton Children

Child-Designed Playground will Eventually Serve 20,000 Children and their Families

FULLERTON, CA, Sept. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Children in Fullerton received a brand new playground today thanks to the effort of more than 200 volunteers from Foresters^TM, a life insurance provider committed to the well-being of families, the City of Fullerton, Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton (BGCF) and non-profit KaBOOM! The new playground will serve 20,000 children and their families in the Fullerton community for years to come. Planning for the playground began at a Design Day event held in July when local children and community leaders met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters to design their dream playground. The children's drawings were then used to create the final playground design.

"Foresters shares its financial strength with its members and communities where they live, such as Fullerton," said Bruce Burak, Foresters National Sales Manager. "Playgrounds are an ideal place for families to get to know other families and build strong communities. This new playground at Ford Park will provide opportunities for families to spend quality time together for years to come."

Since 2006, Foresters has invested over $7 million with KaBOOM! and built or planned almost 100 playgrounds across the U.S. and Canada by 2013. Over their 15 year lifespan, these playgrounds will provide more than 2.6 million children and their families with the opportunity to spend quality time together. Foresters is a KaBOOM! National Partner and a founding member of the KaBOOM! Leadership Circle - a group of organizations providing long-term guidance and support to KaBOOM! and its mission.

In less than eight hours, the child-designed playground was built from scratch by hundreds of volunteers from Foresters, the City of Fullerton, Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton and the surrounding community. In addition, children and families spent the day playing games and participating in arts and crafts activities.

"We are excited about the new playground going into Ford Park and we are happy to again be a partner with Foresters and KaBOOM! for our third playground project," said Wes Morgan, City of Fullerton Parks & Recreation Director. "Along with all of our partners, we look forward to returning a refreshed and revitalized Ford Park back to the community."

Thanks to the work of Foresters, the City of Fullerton, Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton and KaBOOM!, children and their families now have a 2,500 square-foot playground to call home that includes features such as an Inclined Cliff Hanger, Spiral Slide and Swing Sets .

"My family is very excited, we live within walking distance of the park," said Larry Dugger, parent of a BGCF child. "We are excited because building this playground is something good for our neighborhood and something my kids will be able to use for a long time to come."

About the City of Fullerton
The City of Fullerton is approximately 22 square miles in size and is the seventh largest city in Orange County. Located just 20 miles south of Los Angeles with access to two major freeways, Fullerton is a dynamic and diverse community of 137,624 residents (CA Dept. of Finance Jan 2009) who enjoy 1,000 acres of parks and trails, and a revitalized historic downtown area. Fullerton's historic buildings, tree-lined streets, specialty shops, restaurants, and the downtown Fullerton Market all contribute to a small town atmosphere while myriad recreational, cultural and educational opportunities are available through 52 parks and 28 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails, two 18 hole golf courses, five universities and colleges, two public libraries, an arboretum and a number of cultural and community centers. Orange County's only municipal airport is located in Fullerton as is a major transportation hub.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton's (BGCF) has been in the Fullerton community since 1952, offering After-School Homework Assistance and fun, safe activities for members 6-18. Our four Branches average over 400 youth attending daily, including non-members from the community. Our after-school activities include homework assistance, computer lab, athletics, and leadership training. These activities focus on the prevention of drug use and other negative behaviors that influence the youth of today.

About Foresters
Founded in 1874 as a fraternal benefit society, Foresters™ 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 835,000 members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Unity Life of Canada¹, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters, represents Foresters in Canada. For more information, please visit www.foresters.com.

Foresters™ is a trademark of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9.
¹Unity Life of Canada, a Foresters company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Independent Order of Foresters

About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

SOURCE Foresters

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