KaBOOM! Bringing Play Back To Children

This past Friday, I joined a group of other mom bloggers for a special event to help build a new playground for the community of Inglewood, CA.  The new playground, which was sponsored by the non-profit group KaBOOM!, Kool-Aid, and the city of Inglewood, is part of the KaBOOM! initiative to promote healthy and safe outdoor play for children and to encourage their parents to bring them to the playground.

The event was incredible and so well-organized. There were over two hundred volunteers from the local community as well as volunteers from surrounding areas and around the country. The event also featured Joseph “Reverend Run” Simmons from Run-DMC and the show Run’s House as well as his entire family. Rev. Run has worked with KaBOOM! to help them build about 26 other playgrounds around the country.

I wasn’t able to join in with the morning volunteer efforts but managed to get there just in time to help paint a bench and see Rev. Run spin some classic Run-DMC.  It was inspiring to see so many people work together and hustle to get that playground built in just one day. Best of all, I managed to see a big group of local children see their new playground for the first time. To see their faces and hear their shrieks of excitement made the day complete.

From just an empty old playground lot to a brand-new playground filled with state-of-the-art play equipment and lush landscaping, the KaBOOM! project was a wonderful event to witness and volunteer my time and painting skills, or lack thereof. If you’re interested in helping KaBOOM! realize their dream to create more playgrounds around the country, please consider donating to their organization. Check out their website at www.kaboom.org

I also have to give a little blog-love to my fellow mom bloggers that I had the pleasure of meeting. They were all there earlier than me, so I give them much more credit for their teamwork and efforts. Please go check out their fabulous blogs:

Ciaran – Ciaran Blumenfeld

Ana – Spanglish Baby

Liz – Los Angelista

Tina – Send Chocolate Now!!!

Yvonne – Yvonne In LA

Andrea – Hip Moms Who Work

Niri – MommyNiri

Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers Club

And a special shout-out to Beth Feldman of Role Mommy who helped organize the team of bloggers.

Disclaimers: I was not compensated to endorse or promote the KaBOOM! organization. All pictures featured were taken from a professional photographer covering the event. I was given permission to use them.