Brewers Beyond the Diamond initiative continues on Thursday with Kaboom playground build
Brewers Players, Their Wives, Team Staff and Community Partners Slated To Construct a New Playground on Milwaukee's North Side
MILWAUKEE - Beyond the Diamond is a series of community outreach events that are taking place during the season. These events involve partnering with Brewers Community Foundation, players and coaches, Brewers Wives, alumni and team personnel, working hands-on in the community. The community events are funded in part by Brewers Community Foundation and focus on the areas of health, education, recreation and basic needs. In August, the focus is recreation.
More than 200 volunteers from the Milwaukee Brewers, Brewers Community Foundation and YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the Milwaukee community will join forces on Thursday, August 15, to build a new playground at the Northside YMCA. The new playground's design is based on drawings created by children who participated in a Design Day event in May.
WHEN: Thursday, August 15, 2013
8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. - Kick off ceremony and volunteer deployment
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Best viewing of playground construction
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. - Final construction phase and adjustments
2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. - Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate new play area
(Note: all times approximate)
WHERE: 1350 W. North Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53205
WHO: 200 community volunteers, Brewers players and coaches, Brewers wives, alumni and team personnel.
VISUALS: Before and after shots of the site
Volunteers assembling brightly colored playground equipment
Volunteers moving 43,740 square feet of safety surfacing by hand
Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground
Today's kids spend less time playing outside than previous generations in part because only 1-in-5 children live within walking distance of a park or playground. This play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically, socially and cognitively. Children need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy, something KaBOOM! has been committed to since 1996.
The new playground will provide more than 1,200 children in the community with a safe place to play. Currently, the young children have a tot lot available, but the older children are in need of a great place to play.
The playground is the first build in a collaborative effort by KaBOOM! and the Brewers. Additionally, the playground is one of more than 150 playground builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2013 in an effort to fulfill its vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.