South Houston Volunteers Build KaBOOM Playground

SOUTH HOUSTON, TX — More than 100 volunteers from the South Houston area teamed up to transform an empty lot into an amazing kid-designed playground paradises in just a few hours.

The playground, which was built with a grant from KaBOOM.org, and willing volunteers from UnitedHealthcare, South Houston Elementary and across the City of South Houston, was completed in just six hours on a Saturday afternoon.

"We do these projects as part of our 'Do good, Live well' employee volunteer initiative," said Courtney Johnson, United Healthcare's Social Responsibility Senior Program Manager. "For every partnership we do, we want to get our employees involved. They are all going home tired and dirty, but their hearts are full."

The state-ofThe playground is one of several across the state of Texas to be installed this year in communities heavily impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

The devastating storm struck the South Houston community with a mighty blow, dropping unprecedented amounts of rainfall in its path, damaging homes, businesses and schools.

As part of the recovery process, the community united with United Healthcare and KaBoom! to build the park and help students reclaim a sense of normalcy.

"Safe and comfortable places for the community to gather and for children to be active will play a key role as the neighborhood rebuilds and rebounds," Karina Zarzosa, South Houston Elementary principal said. "The rains from Hurricane Harvey devastated our community, but not our ‘go for it’ spirit.’"

Image: Pasadena ISD

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