City of Anaheim
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW PLAYGROUND DEBUTS TODAY IN ANAHEIM: DESIGNED BY KIDS AND BUILT BY VOLUNTEERS FROM DISNEY, CITY OF ANAHEIM, ANAHEIM FAMILY YMCA AND KaBOOM!
New playground is fifth built by Disney & KaBOOM! in Orange County since 2011, giving nearly 7,000 children a great place to play and be active
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Oct. 21, 2013) – As of today, more than 350 children have a great new place to play inspiring them to lead active, healthy lifestyles. Disney and KaBOOM!, with the help of more than 200 volunteers including local community residents, city of Anaheim and Anaheim Family YMCA volunteers and Disney VoluntEARS, joined together to deliver a new playground at Modjeska Park in Anaheim (1331 South Nutwood Street).
“On behalf of Anaheim’s children and their families, thank you to KaBOOM!, Disney and the Y for once again working with the city to provide children safe and fun places to play,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait. “These organizations are incredible community partners who share our vision of Anaheim as a city of kindness where families can thrive and children are active by enjoying outdoor activities. It is a joy to see the children literally run to the new equipment with their siblings and friends. I know they will enjoy the park for years to come.”
Planning for the playground began in August 2013 at Design Day, a unique element of this program in which local children and community leaders met with organizers from Disney and KaBOOM! to design their dream playground. The children’s drawings were then used to create the final playground design. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together community interests and businesses to construct more than 2,300 new places to play across North America.
“Every child deserves to have a great place to play and we’re thrilled to continue our work with Disney in striving toward that goal,” said Darell Hammond, KaBOOM! founder & CEO. “Thanks to the efforts of Disney, KaBOOM!, the city of Anaheim and the Anaheim Family YMCA, we moved one step closer to the KaBOOM! vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.”
The new playground is one of more than 40 made possible with support from Disney to inspire kids to lead healthier lifestyles. By the end of 2013, Disney’s support will bring the magic of play to more than 50,000 kids and families nationwide. Since 2011, in Orange County alone, five builds have provided playgrounds for nearly 7,000 children.
“The Disneyland Resort was created as a place where children and parents could share magical experiences and spend meaningful time together,” said Michael Colglazier, president of the Disneyland Resort. “Our work at today’s KaBOOM! playground build embodies that same spirit, and we are proud to be a part of an effort that focuses on the health and well-being of families.”
“This collaborative project embodies the Y’s focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility,” said Paul Andresen, president and CEO of the Anaheim Family YMCA. “This is the fourth playground we’ve built since 2011, and it shows how the power of collaboration can create lasting opportunities for youth and families to be healthy and active together.”
# # #
Betsy Sanchez, Disneyland Resort, 714-781-1580, betsy.e.sanchez@disney.com
Ruth Ruiz, City of Anaheim, 714-420-7797, rruiz@anaheim.net
Ivana Mendez, Anaheim Family YMCA, 714-635-9622, imendez@anaheimymca.org
Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!, 785-320-2137, mvietti@kaboom.org
City of Anaheim
The City of Anaheim, founded in 1857, is one of the nation’s premier municipalities and is one of California’s most populous cities. Anaheim covers 50 square miles with more than 346,000 residents and more than 2,900 City employees. The municipal corporation’s annual budget is $1.6 billion. Anaheim supports a thriving business community with companies such as Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc., L-3 Communications, Pacific Sunwear, and Disneyland Resort. Successful sports franchises call Anaheim home, including Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks, the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, and the 2012 Olympic Games Silver Medal winning U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team. Anaheim also boasts world-class meeting and entertainment venues with the Anaheim Convention Center, LEED-certified and the largest on the west coast, Honda Center, City National Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim GardenWalk, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim. In addition, Anaheim embraces its vibrant cultural arts community, including the world-renowned Anaheim Ballet. Annually, Anaheim welcomes millions of visitors to the city, truly making it where the world comes to live, work and play. For more information, please visit www.anaheim.net.
Anaheim Family YMCA
The Y is a cause-driven organization focused on Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility. The Anaheim Family YMCA was founded in 1911 and currently impacts 15,200 youth, teens and adults annually in 55 program sites across the greater Anaheim area. YMCA programs span from early childhood education, after-school, youth sports, swim, summer camps, summer learning and healthy living. For more information about the Anaheim Family YMCA’s programs and resources please visit www.anaheimymca.org.
Disneyland Resort
Located on approximately 500 acres in Anaheim, Calif., the Disneyland Resort features two spectacular theme parks – Disneyland (the original Disney theme park) and Disney California Adventure park – plus the Downtown Disney District comprised of unique dining, entertainment and shopping experiences. The Resort’s three hotels are the 948-room Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the 969-room Disneyland Hotel and the 481-room Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. With 25,000 cast members, the Disneyland Resort is Orange County’s largest employer and a $4.7 billion annual contributor to the local economy. The Resort has welcomed more than 650 million guests since opening on July 17, 1955. To learn more about our community efforts, visit http://publicaffairs.disneyland.com.
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Being a good corporate citizen is a time-honored Disney tradition. Through contributions, collaborations with local organizations, in-kind gifts and volunteering, Disney helps to brighten the lives of kids and families in need and strengthen communities around the world. In 2012, the Company donated more than $292 million in cash, in-kind support and products, and Disney VoluntEARS gave over 586,000 hours of service. For more information visit, thewaltdisneycompany.com.
KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving kids the childhood they deserve by bringing play to those who need it most. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. Social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! in 1996 in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America because children need to play actively every day at home, in school and in their communities. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 90,000 places to play, built more than 2,300 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: A Movement to Save Play, now out in paperback. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has an office in San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
###