WHAT:

More than 200 volunteers from the Pacific Life Foundation (@pacificlife), Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove (@BGCGG), organizers from KaBOOM! (@kaboom) and the community will join forces on Saturday, June 17, to give area kids the childhood they deserve by building a playground at Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove. The design is based on children’s drawings created at a special design event in May.   

WHEN:

Saturday, June 17

8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.        

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.      

1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.        

2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.        

(Times approximate)

Kick-off ceremony

Best viewing of playground construction

Final construction phase

Ribbon-cutting ceremony

WHERE:

Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove

9860 Larson Avenue

Garden Grove, CA 92844

WHO:

Hundreds of community volunteers

Tennyson Oyler, Vice President , Brand Management & Public Affairs, Pacific Life, President, Pacific Life Foundation, BGCGG CEO, Mark Surmanian, BGCGG Chief Volunteer Officer, Sergeant John Reynolds, Mayor of Garden Grove, Steve Jones, Garden Grove City Manager, Scott Stiles

WHY:

A playground is more than a playground. It’s a brain-expander, friend-maker, and muscle-builder. Play is central to a child’s ability to grow into a productive adult. It can transform children from sedentary, bored and solitary to physically, mentally and socially active. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to the bold goal of giving all kids – particularly those growing up in poverty in America – the childhood they deserve, filled with balanced and active play, so they can thrive. With its partners, KaBOOM! has built, improved and opened nearly 16,700 playgrounds, engaged more than one million volunteers, and served 8.5 million kids (#playmatters).

The new playground will bring more than 1,500 kids in Garden Grove one step closer to having the play-filled childhood they deserve. In building this playspace together, we are making it easier for all kids to get balanced and active play and making Garden Grove more playable.

Currently, the playground structure and surrounding grounds were designed and built more than 10 years ago. The playground itself is small, with outdated features and dull, uninviting colors. Children are under-stimulated due to the limited features on the structure itself, while the surrounding grounds lack intentional design to encourage youth to build or manipulate objects or structures.

Revitalizing the playground at Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove is essential to achieving our mission. We know that when youth develop healthy, active lifestyles during their childhood and adolescence, they are more likely to maintain these habits into adulthood. A new playground will allow more youth to participate in physical activity that is engaging and fun, regardless of their physical abilities or limitations. The playground is also a place where all youth may engage in low-impact, non-competitive play activity. By providing our children more opportunities for play, we are supporting their development as independent, creative thinkers with the tools they need to ensure great futures (#greatplaystartshere).

The playground is the 8^th built by the Pacific Life Foundation and KaBOOM!. Through this partnership, more children will have the joyful childhood they deserve. Pacific Life Foundation supports KaBOOM! in promoting and protecting a child’s right to active play at home, at school and in the community.

VISUALS:

Before and after shots

Volunteers assembling, carrying, and installing brightly colored playground equipment

Volunteers moving more than 1,200 square feet of safety surfacing by hand

Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground