Photo Opportunity - Will you come out and play?

Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Games launched to encourage healthy activities, fun with neighbours, communities

TORONTO, Aug. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - "We don't stop playing because we grow old," said the Nobel-winning playwright George Bernard Shaw. "We grow old because we stop playing."

Play is fun, life affirming, and can be the glue that holds communities together. Play is also integral to the vision of Playing for Keeps, the initiative named as a key legacy of the 2012 Ontario Summer Games (OSG) that is bringing the concept of Neighbourhood Games to Toronto.

Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Games are locally organized, playful and joyful activities that bring people together to share an experience, have fun, and play. They cover a full range of community activities, such as sports, arts, music, and food - everything from basketball tournaments to hopscotch, from community gardening to grandmas and tots walks, from street dancing to mega glee clubs.

The Playing for Keeps website (www.playingforkeeps.ca) will be a hub for how to initiate Neighbourhood Games, as well as a vehicle to share stories of fun, success, and community building through video.

Key partners include the Toronto Community Foundation, Heart and Stroke Foundation, University of Toronto - Faculty of Physical Education and Health, Ontario Trillium Foundation, YMCA, George Brown College, and Get Active Toronto.

"Playful activities that we do with others get us into our communities, connecting with our neighbours," said Rahul K. Bhardwaj, chair of the 2012 OSG Organizing Committee and president & CEO of Toronto Community Foundation. "These activities get us having fun together, exercising our minds, hands, bodies and hearts. Communities that play together are healthier, more connected, more vital."

"Play" begins officially on August 16 at noon, at the south-west corner of King and Bay Streets, downtown Toronto. The first Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Games will feature newcomers, long-time residents, seniors and youth engaged in skipping, egg and spoon races, hoola hoop dancing and tug-of-war.

With the 2012 Ontario Summer Games, running from August 16 through 19, the City of Toronto is hosting almost 2,500 athletes competing in 28 sports across Toronto and the surrounding areas of Brampton, Caledon, Oshawa, St. Catharines and Welland. The athletes are joined by hundreds of coaches, managers and officials, and thousands of volunteers and spectators. The Games are a unique opportunity for many young athletes, as the multi-sport competition may serve as a stepping stone to many national and international competitions.

"We are all working together to give Torontonians, and all Ontarians, permission to play, building a movement that will strengthen communities and leave a social legacy long after the Games are over," said Mr. Bhardwaj.

Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Games Launch photo opportunity details

Where:	South-west corner of King and Bay Streets
When:	Thursday, August 16, noon
Who:	Over 75 newcomers, long-time residents and youth will be bringing "play" to Toronto's financial district

About Playing for Keeps

Playing for Keeps is developing healthier, more active, and better connected communities - through play! - starting with the 2012 Ontario Summer Games towards the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games and beyond. Over 30 organizations and 600 people from Ajax, Toronto, and Hamilton helped to develop the social legacy initiative. For more information, please visit www.playingforkeeps.ca.

About Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Games

Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Games are locally organized, playful and joyful activities that bring people together to share an experience, have fun and play.

About Ontario Summer Games

The 2012 Ontario Summer Games is a program of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport and are delivered by the Sport Alliance Ontario in collaboration with the City of Toronto, Toronto Sports Council and Tourism Toronto.

SOURCE: Toronto Community Foundation

Media Contact:

Simone Dalton
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
Toronto Community Foundation
Cell: 416-809-5036
Office: 416-921-2035 ext. 218
Email: [email protected]