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Date: 10/4/2018
CHICOPEE – The rain didn’t stop the construction of a new playground at the Chicopee Boys and Girls Club on Sept. 28.
In fact, the 150 volunteers actually finished an hour early of their 2:30 p.m. deadline.
At 8 a.m., volunteers had started filling the new playground area with mulch and building the structure despite the steady showers.
Jason Reed, the club’s executive director, said the new playground represents “a new generation of outdoor play” and replaced a 15 year-old structure.
The playground’s construction was supervised by KaBoom!, a national non-profit that has been designing and construction playgrounds since 1996. Its mission statement is: “KaBOOM! works to bring balanced and active play into the daily lives of all children, particularly those growing up in poverty in America. We do this by creating great places to play, inspiring communities to promote and support play and driving the national discussion about the importance of play in fostering healthy and productive lives.”
Sam Buckley, the KaBoom! project manager for the playground, said this playscape was “functional linked play” with structures that allowed children to go around the playground without their feet touching the ground.
The playground came about through funs provided by Newell brands, the Chicopee Boys and Girls Club and KaBoom!, Buckley added.
Besides the play area, volunteers also built an outdoor stage with chalkboard and outdoor classroom.
Reed said the fundraising effort was so successful there was excess funding that can be used in the future. He added the outdoor classroom allows the club staff to be more creative with STEM programming.
Reed said the process started five months ago when the club reached out to KaBoom! The organization had a local partner in Newell brands interested in helping a local project. The club’s youthful members were even involved in the planning process by submitting ideas and drawings for the kind of playground they would like to see.