|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2007 Racing to Play - PoconoRacing to Play headed east to Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains to build a new racing-themed playground on Aug. 2, at Bear Creek Community Charter School in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. More than 200 enthusiastic volunteers from local The Home Depot stores, Joe Gibbs Racing and the community joined together to get the job done in just one day. Racing to Play is a partnership between The Home Depot, Joe Gibbs Racing and KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization whose vision is to create a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. During the program’s third year, we’re building 10 more racing-themed playgrounds in select NASCAR race markets. By the end of the 2007 NASCAR season, we’ll have built 30 racing-themed playgrounds. Bear Creek Community Charter School is the first and only public charter school in Luzerne County and has a student population of more than 350 students. The children who attend the school and live in the nearby community worked together to design their first playground and they really came up with an awesome new place to play. Bear Creek’s new playground is an obstacle course-style structure with a slither slide, a glide slide, spiral climber, lily pods, a sliding pole, an adventure tube, tetherball, a hopscotch climber, a flip flop, bounce buttons, a lift-me-up, chinning bar and critter crossing, as well as, activity panels with steering wheels and a storefront. There are lots of things to climb on, crawl up and explore! In addition to the main playground structure, we also built six outdoor classroom benches, two picnic tables, a shade structure, trash and recycling containers, a butterfly garden and installed new landscaping. The kids made craft projects such as tie-dying t-shirts and stepping stones, and they also competed in their own mini field day complete with tire races. I worked with my Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Patrick Mullen, tire specialist; and John Furino, mechanic, for the #11 FedEx Racing Team; and Jerold Shires, tire specialist, for the #20 Home Depot Racing Team – to build the lift-me-up, tetherball stand and flip flop. The next Racing to Play playground is on Aug. 30 in Fontana, Calif. Visit www.kaboom.org to learn how to have a playground built in your community. Through Racing to Play – we’re not just building playgrounds – we’re building dreams. It’s Playtime! Denny
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Photo Gallery
