Foresters, KaBOOM! and volunteers bring families together with new playground at New Chelsea Elementary School
Playground will enhance family and community well-being
KANSAS CITY, KS, June 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - The Kansas City community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at New Chelsea Elementary School. In less than eight hours, more than 200 volunteers from ForestersTM, Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, New Chelsea Elementary School and non-profit KaBOOM! created the new play space, which will serve more than 4500 children and their families in the local community for years to come.
"A community's well-being starts with a child's well-being," said Tony Garcia, President and CEO, Foresters. "Playgrounds are important to communities, providing an open space where children can play safely. We believe that an investment in a playground is an investment in family well-being, and we are happy to provide the Kansas City community with a place that families can enjoy for years to come."
The design for the new playground is based on drawings created by neighborhood children at a special Design Day event held in April when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters to design their dream playground. The drawings inspired the final playground design.
Since 2006, Foresters, an international financial services provider, has invested over $10 million with KaBOOM! to build over 120 playgrounds across the US and Canada by the end of 2015. Over their 15-year lifespan, these playgrounds will provide more than 4 million children and their families with an opportunity to spend quality time together and enhance family well-being.
"New Chelsea supports all students and families in developing academic, social, and emotional skills as we prepare them for college, career and life opportunities. We are proud of our diversity and how we embrace each other's strengths each day. We function as a family of learners, peers, colleagues, and advocate for one another in the spirit of togetherness. We ARE New Chelsea Family!"
Green spaces and safe play structures where children and families can enjoy and spend time together are sparse in many high density communities. Playing outdoors is an important part of every child's healthy development and the creation of this new playground will allow thousands of children to play safely and be active in their community.
"The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools is proud to partner with Foresters and KaBoom in support of the needs of our students. Play is vital, not only to the physical health of students, but also their social and emotional development."
Foresters is a founding member of the KaBOOM! Leadership Circle – a group of organizations providing long-term guidance and support to KaBOOM! and its mission. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to the bold goal of ensuring that all children get the balance of active play they need to become healthy and successful adults because #playmatters.
New Chelsea Elementary School
New Chelsea Elementary School serves a wonderfully diverse group of families for students in grades K-5. New Chelsea is driven by highly qualified and effective people, engaging in research and standards-based best practice teaching with our students. The expectations we hold for ourselves and our students are rigorous and purposeful. New Chelsea Elementary believes in supporting the social and emotional welfare of our students and their families, celebrating diversity, and producing outstanding growth in these areas and academically as well. Our vision is to produce students that are on-track for college and career futures, and successful, productive citizens in our ever-changing and global society.
About Foresters
For more than 140 years, Foresters™, an international financial services provider, has fulfilled its purpose to enhance family well-being for its members and the communities where they live. A fraternal benefit society, Foresters offers quality life insurance and investment products, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with over one million members in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit foresters.com.
Foresters™ is the trade name and a trademark of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9; its subsidiaries are licensed to use this mark.
KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids, particularly those growing up in poverty in America. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build, open or improve nearly 16,000 playgrounds, engaged more than one million volunteers and served 7.4 million children. KaBOOM! creates great places to play, inspires communities to promote and support play, and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of play in fostering healthy lives and communities. To learn why #playmatters: visit kaboom.org or join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom or facebook.com/kaboom.
SOURCE Foresters
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