Reedy Cares and KaBoom! Sixth Annual Playground Build

Parts Town’s Reedy Cares team member, Chris Reynolds, shares details of this year’s KaBoom! playground build:

It is that time of year again – KaBoom! 2012 has begun. KaBoom! is a non-profit organization that has partnered with Reedy Industries through the Reedy Cares program for the past five years to build brand new playgrounds for less fortunate kids. The builds take place in areas that have never had a playground, where the nearest safe playgrounds are across busy streets and over 2 miles away.

This year we will be building at St. Gull Catholic School in South Chicago on May 19, 2012. This playground will provide a safe play space for over 287 kids. Reedy Industries, KaBoom!, and the St. Gull community are devoted to creating a safe and fun environment for kids to play within walking distance of their homes.

On planning day we gathered with 47 kids and 17 parents at St. Gull to decide on exactly what they wanted built. This process is very kid-oriented, and the group together was able to decide on 3 possible designs.

As you can imagine, creating a playground from nothing is an impressive feat. In a single day, we will take an empty lot and turn it into a fully functional and safe playground. The effort will require 6 hours of hard work and 200 volunteers – at least 150 Reedy volunteers and at least 50 community volunteers. It is definitely a lot of work, but it is for a great cause.

Parts Town hopes to have a great deal of involvement this year. We’re proud of the efforts of our Reedy Cares crew, and all they have accomplished over the years!