Lake Worth, FL, July 1, 2013 – Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and national non-profit KaBOOM! has awarded the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) a $15,000 Let’s Play Community Construction Grant as announced on June 28, 2013.
The grant is part of ‘Let’s Play’, a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to get kids and families active nationwide. In 2011, as part of ‘Let’s Play’, Dr Pepper Snapple Group made a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM!, the national non-profit saving play by ensuring there is a great place to play within walking distance of every child. Together through Let’s Play, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM! will build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America.
“Lake Worth has seen so many improvements these past few years but further development of the Tropical Ridge Fitness Park has special meaning to me. This grant will enable the Agency to fulfill a promise made to the neighborhood that included the development of park space for adults and children. Parks offer residents a quantifiable range of advantages including quality of life, neighborhood vitality and economic benefits”, stated Cary Sabol, CRA Chair. “I am both proud and thankful to our Board and Staff and the many partners in this project including the Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association, who never tire in improving the sense of pride and identity in our community.”
This grant will be used to assist with the creation of a new children’s playground to be located at the new Tropical Ridge Fitness Park. A year ago, the Tropical Ridge Fitness Park was nothing more than a vacant, City-owned lot located on the 200 block of North ‘H’ Street. However, the CRA Board and Staff, along with their numerous community partners, realized that this lot had the potential to become an ideal pocket park for the residents living in the surrounding neighborhood. In November 2012, the CRA, the Trust for Public Land, and the Palm Beach County School District, opened the first phase of the park by installing a new ‘fitness zone’ at this location. This outdoor fitness zone consisted of nine pieces of workout equipment which are free for the public to use. The second phase of development at this park will consist of the new playground which has been designated to be built in the north-west section of the park.
The playground will be built using the KaBOOM! community-build model, which requires using community volunteers to plan for, design, fundraise for, and build the community playground. Planning and design for the new playground will take place later this year. The CRA anticipates opening the new park by summer 2014.
Unstructured, child-directed play has been proven to help kids develop physically, socially and cognitively, yet today’s kids have less time and fewer opportunities to play than any previous generation. Via Let’s Play grants and projects through 2012, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM! built or improved 1,154 playgrounds, benefitting an estimated 2.8 million children during the lifetime of the playgrounds. People are encouraged to visit Let’s Play at www.LetsPlay.com to join the conversation and learn how to apply for the various available grants to make their communities more active and playful.