Foresters, KaBOOM! and volunteers bring families together with new playground in El Cajon

Playground will enhance family and community well-being

EL CAJON, CA, June 7, 2014  /CNW/ - The El Cajon community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at Wells Park. In less than eight hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters^TM, the City of El Cajon Recreation Department, the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County (@BGCEC), Stoney's Kids and non-profit KaBOOM! created the new play space, which will serve more than 60,000 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 Kasia Czarski, senior vice president, chief membership and marketing officer, Foresters. "Playgrounds are important to communities, providing an open space where families spend quality time together and 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 El Cajon 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 has invested over $10 million with KaBOOM! to build almost 120 playgrounds across the US and Canada by the end of 2015. Over their 15 year lifespan, these playgrounds will provide more than 3 million children and their families with an opportunity to spend quality time together and enhance family well-being.

Another way Foresters advocates for family well-being is through its Tech Timeout™ challenge, which encourages families to take a pledge to turn off all electronic devices for an hour a day for one week and spend quality time together.  For more details, visit techtimeout.com.

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.

City of El Cajon Recreation Department
The City of El Cajon, located in eastern San Diego County, serves a diverse population of over 100,000 citizens.  One of the city's greatest highlights are its public parks and recreation centers with the majority of programs at free or low-cost taught by city recreation staff.  The city has six recreation centers and nearly 20 parks.

Boys & Girls Clubs of East County
The Boys & Girls Clubs of East County have been developing, implementing, and providing activities to disadvantaged youth for 42 years. Operating five clubhouses in the communities of El Cajon, Lakeside, La Mesa and Santee, we provide afterschool and summer activities to 2,900 children ages 5-18 for $45 per year. Children come to the Clubs to enjoy safe, fun and structured after school programs. Staff welcomes children by name, acknowledges their likes and dislikes and offers an adult friend and mentor. Funds are raised through our four fundraising events as well as through the efforts of community organizations, and the efforts of our Board of Directors. Our Board is comprised of members of the East County community that have committed their volunteer efforts to meeting the $1.7 million dollar budget as well as raising awareness in the community about the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County.​

Stoney's Kids
Stoney's Kids is a longtime non-profit in San Diego's East County raising funds for the low-income youth for afterschool programs and services.  Stoney's Kids supports many programs through scholarships for recreational classes, providing funding for youth sports programs, and many more youth related activities.

Foresters
For 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 more than one million members in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.  For more information, visit foresters.com, facebook.com/foresters and techtimeout.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 the bold new goal of ensuring that all children, particularly the 16 million American children living in poverty, get the balance of active play they need to become healthy and successful adults. KaBOOM! has been a powerful champion for play since its founding in 1996, working with partners to build, improve and open more than 15,000 playgrounds, engage more than 1,000,000 volunteers and serve more than 6,600,000 children. KaBOOM! creates and catalyzes great places to play, inspires, empowers and leads play advocates, and educates and elevates the societal conversation about the importance of play in children's lives. For more information, visit kaboom.org/act or follow the conversation on why #playmatters at twitter.com/kaboom or facebook.com/kaboom.

SOURCE: Foresters

City of El Cajon: Monica Zech, Recreation Manager, [email protected]; Boys & Girls Clubs of East County : Samantha Olsen, 619-440-1600, [email protected]; Stoney's Kids: Bonnie Stone, 619-473-0165, [email protected]; Foresters: Maria Ganogiannis, 800-461-8431, ext. 4096, [email protected]; KaBOOM!: Bruno Tager, 301-919-4482, [email protected]