LITH Gets Grant to Promote Active Play in Playground Spaces

The Village of Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Department was recently named one of 18 recipients in the state of Illinois to receive a GameTime Healthy Play Action Grant. The winners were announced at the 2017 annual Illinois Park and Recreation Association/Illinois Association of Park Districts conference in Chicago, according to a village news release.

GameTime set aside grant funds for agencies who demonstrated a desire to promote quality of life through play. The Crystal Lake Park District was also among the 18 recipients to receive a GameTime Healthy Play Action Grant.

Working with IPRA, GameTime developed the grant program to provide matching funds to assist parks throughout Illinois to create playground spaces that encourage best practice designs for active behavior. Each of the playgrounds that are funded by the matching grant funds will be designated as National Demonstration Sites for data collection, and will contribute data toward the publication of a White Paper to highlight best practices and outcomes achieved.

In total, $1.45 million in grants was awarded to 18 park districts and villages across the state. The initial findings will be presented at the 2018 IPRA/IAPD conference.

“What made this program unique was the educational training and professional development provided by our parent company, PlayCore,” said Robert Barron, Senior Vice President at GameTime, in a news release. “These workshops throughout the state of Illinois equipped park and recreation professionals with the research and resources to create recreation spaces that are based on best practices, encourage children and families to be more active, and increase the usage of community parks.”

Laura Barron, Director of Parks & Recreation, applied for the grant in 2016 for improvements at LeRoy Guy and Normandy Parks.

“IPRA is excited about this opportunity for our members throughout the state,” said Debbie Trueblood, Executive Director of IPR, in a news reelase.”Not only will the matching grant funds from GameTime help our members provide active play spaces for children and families today, these sites will provide a research component that will elevate the field of parks and recreation for the future.”