KaBOOM! Playground Being Built at Sable Palms Apartments

A special Design Day was held Feb. 25 involving Sable Palms Apartments residents, from children to seniors, to design and submit their ideal playground ideas. The winning design will become reality with building and installation to begin April 10 and completion April 12. Around the time of Hammond’s FSCJ presentation, Marshall and her Learning Community members had identified a need at the Sable Palms Apartments, asked, and received. Funding for the project was provided by the Humana Foundation, with support from THE PLAYERS Championship and FSCJ.

More than 100 volunteers are needed on build day, Saturday, April 12. To volunteer, or for more information, please contact Heidi Marshall.

KaBOOM! was founded by Hammond to build playgrounds in low-income areas to give children safe places to play. His biography, in part, examined the gradual disappearance of play in children’s lives and why play is vital for the well-being of our communities, the awareness of which inspired him to found KaBOOM!

The Learning Communities are annual interdisciplinary adventures that engage FSCJ and the community in a common goal with social, educational and community benefits. Initiatives included the support of play for children through community service learning, and nonprofit awareness. Previous Learning Community projects have focused on topics as diverse as post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans, poverty, sustainability and the environment. The 2013-2014 Learning Community is based on “Picking Cotton,” a memoir co-written by rape victim Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and her accused attacker, Ronald Cotton, later found innocent, and the unusual bond forged by their experience. It has invited discussions on memory, the criminal justice system in America, cognitive stereotypes and victim's advocacy. The authors will speak at FSCJ on March 25, 2014.