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

Playground will enhance family and community well-being

PORTLAND, OR, July 26, 2014 /CNW/ - The Portland community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground at SE 171st and Division Street. In less than eight hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters™, Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East and non-profit KaBOOM! created the new play space, which will serve more than 2,000 children in the local community each year. Over its lifetime, the playground will bring more than 31,500 Portland kids one step closer to having the childhood they deserve.

"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 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 Portland 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 May 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 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.

"We are thrilled that these families will now not only have a safe place to call home, but a safe place for their kids to play and thrive," said Steve Messinetti, president and CEO, Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East.  This playground will truly complete this community."

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 balanced and active play they need to thrive because #playmatters.

Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East
Habitat for Humanity Portland/ Metro East revitalizes neighborhoods, builds affordable and sustainable homes and empowers families through successful homeownership.  Habitat is one of the only organizations in the Portland Metro area that offers homeownership opportunities to hardworking families making as little as $20,800 (for a family of four). We do this by mobilizing the community and a hand-up model in which the homeowner helps to build and then buys their home with a 0%-interest Habitat mortgage. Additionally, Habitat offers home repair services to low-income homeowners, using the same 0%-interest loan and sweat equity model.  Instead of being in a vulnerable and fragile economic position, Habitat families find themselves in a position of strength. Habitatportlandmetro.org

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 balanced and active play they need to thrive. 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

Habitat for Humanity: Matina Kauffman, 530-863-9533, [email protected]; Foresters: Maria Ganogiannis, 800-461-8431, ext. 4096, [email protected]; KaBOOM!: Kristine Austria, 202-746-8797, [email protected]