Austin Volunteers Build Kids A Playground In Just 6 Hours

AUSTIN, TX — Volunteers this week built a playground at a local park in just six hours, parks officials said.

More than 200 volunteers from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Austin Parks & Recreation Department (PARD), Austin Parks Foundation (APF) and the community joined KaBOOM! to build the kid-inspired playground at Wooten Neighborhood Park, according to a press advisory. "The new playground will serve the urgent need for kids to have a great, safe place to play," officials wrote.

In September, neighborhood kids put crayons to paper in drawing their vision of a dream playground. With those renderings as a guide, community members came together to build a playscape featuring swings, slides, and climbers.

“At Austin Parks Foundation, we’re dedicated to strengthening our city’s park system so Austinites all across the city can have access to great green spaces. It is exciting to help bring this amazing new playscape to Wooten Neighborhood Park,”Chief Mission Officer at Austin Parks Foundation Ladye Anne Wofford said in a prepared statement. “We are so grateful for the incredible support from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the KaBOOM! team and the hundreds of community volunteers who made this possible!”

Volunteers constructed the playground from start to finish in less than six hours, parks officials noted, mixing and pouring thousands of pounds of concrete and moving enough safety surfacing to cover more than nine NBA-sized basketball courts. The new playground will serve thousands of kids in Wooten Neighborhood Park over its lifetime, according to parks officials.

“We are thankful for KaBOOM!, Austin Parks Foundation, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and the 200 volunteers who built the dream playground — designed by Wooten Elementary School students,” said Kimberly McNeeley, director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. “The new equipment will create community for our youngest Austinites by improving access to healthy play opportunities and carving out a special space for young folks to gather, learn, and grow.”

The project isn't just fun and games: Officials noted that playtime is the business of childhood, and is essential to the physical, cognitive, creative, social and emotional development of every kid. "It’s how kids build strong muscles and healthy bodies; it’s how they learn problem-solving, conflict resolution and creativity; it’s how they make friends and build strong bonds with adults," officials wrote. "Play is critical to a kid’s ability to thrive."

“Austin is our hometown, so it means so much to us that we’re able to give back to the community in this way,” Executive Director of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Executive Director Janet Mountain said in a prepared statement. “Today is about making sure hundreds of children have a brand-new and safe place to play right in their own neighborhood. We’re thrilled to be a part of it.”