Pocket Park adjacent to Roosevelt Elementary School (Photo – sangabrielcity.com)
Kids in San Gabriel are celebrating a great new place to play.
By News Desk
For two months, representatives from City of San Gabriel, the San Gabriel Unified School District, Blue Shield of California and KABOOM!, a nonprofit organization focused on ending playspace inequity, have been working together to create a new, kid-designed playground installation. The playground will give kids a place to play close to where they live and learn.
Located adjacent to Roosevelt Elementary School, this new playground was built with the generous support of Blue Shield of California and KABOOM! to address the physical, creative, cognitive, social and emotional development of kids in the San Gabriel community. The previous playground at this neighborhood park was built over 20 years ago as a pocket park that was in need of replacement. With the assistance of San Gabriel kids, and their families, a new playground was built at Roosevelt Park that will be accessible to neighborhood families and will serve as an afterschool play space for Roosevelt students.
San Gabriel Mayor Denise Menchaca said:
The City of San Gabriel now has a new playground at Roosevelt Park. We are so happy to be given this opportunity to provide a safe playground for kids to play and grow. Playgrounds provide generations of recreational fun to the community.
“The City of San Gabriel was thrilled to partner once again with KABOOM! to build this new play space for our community,” said Community Services Director Rebecca Perez. San Gabriel’s kids are sure to enjoy playing on this new playground in 2021 and beyond.”
“We know disasters and crises often exacerbate the inequities that communities are already experiencing, and in many communities, kids won’t have a playground to go back to once the COVID-19 crisis is over,” says James Siegal, CEO of KABOOM!. “We must stop the playspace inequities from becoming even deeper after we get through this pandemic, giving every kid the chance to play and just enjoy being a kid.”
“At Blue Shield of California, we understand how important it is to provide youth with equitable access to safe outdoor activities,” said Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Blue Shield of California. “Our organization is thankful to partner with KABOOM!, as their ongoing work to build playspaces plays a key role in keeping children in our communities healthy.”
Source: City of San Gabriel. Edited by Ann Hunnewell
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