Foresters, KaBOOM! & Volunteers Revitalize San Diego Community with a New Playground at The Salvation Army Kroc Center

Playground to enhance family well-being

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - A dream is now a reality for children in San Diego as their drawings were turned into a new playground today. In less than eight hours, the play space was built with the help of more than 200 volunteers from Foresters^TM, The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center and non-profit KaBOOM!. The new playground at The Salvation Army Kroc Center will serve thousands of children and their families in the community for years to come.

"Foresters believes in providing opportunities for families to spend quality time together," said Kasia Czarski, Foresters Senior Vice President, Chief Membership and Marketing Officer. "A playground is an important piece for the revitalization of a community. Not only does it provide a first step towards keeping children healthy, but it's a safe, central location for the entire neighborhood to get together."

Planning for the playground began at a Design Day event held in August when local children and community leaders met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters to design their dream playground at The Salvation Army Kroc Center. The children's drawings were then used to create the final playground design.

Since 2006, Foresters has invested over $7 million with KaBOOM! with almost 100 playgrounds built or planned across the U.S. and Canada. Over their 15 year lifespan, these playgrounds will provide more than 2.6 million children and their families with an 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.

The Salvation Army Kroc Center is thrilled to work with KaBOOM! and Foresters to build a fun, creative and engaging program designed by the community for the community. The center offers a variety of fun programs to kids of all ages, but as Operations Director Clarissa Glasco says, "We just need a place for families can go and gather around and play - especially for the younger children."

Thanks to the work of Foresters, The Salvation Army Kroc Center and KaBOOM!, children and their families now have a 2,730 square-foot playground to call home that includes features such as swings, a play cabana, dual slides, and more!

About The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center
The Salvation Army Kroc Center is a 12.4-acre family support, education, recreation, and cultural arts center, made possible by a generous gift by the late philanthropist Mrs. Joan Kroc. The facility is open to members and the general public and provides opportunities that facilitate positive, life-changing experiences through: art, athletics, personal development, spiritual discovery and community service. For more information about the Kroc Center, visit www.kroccenter.org.

About Foresters
Foresters™ is a life insurance provider with a difference.  The fraternal benefit society, founded in 1874, supports family well-being through quality products, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with almost 950,000 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.

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! in 1996 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 90,000 places to play, built more than 2,100 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!: A Movement to Save Play, now out in paperback. 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

Maria Todaro, The Salvation Army Kroc Center, 619-459-5201, [email protected]
Maria Ganogiannis, Foresters, 800-461-8431, ext. 4096, [email protected]
Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!, 785-320-2137, [email protected]