University of North Carolina Athletics
Jamison Leads Group In Building New Playground In D.C.
September 18, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 18, 2008
Former University of North Carolina star and current Washington Wizards All-Star Antawn Jamison, more than 200 volunteers from Southeast DC, representatives from Kool-Aid and organizers from KaBOOM! will join forces on Saturday, Sept. 20 to build a new, safe playground at the Park Southern Neighborhood Corporation in Washington D.C. The new playground's design is based on drawings provided by children who attended a Design Day event in July.
The new playground will provide more than 500 children who live at the complex with a safe place to play. The new Washington D.C. playground is part of the Kool-Aid and KaBOOM! initiative to build 24 playgrounds across the country in 2008 that will eventually serve more than 250,000 children.
Jamison, whose "A Better Tomorrow" campaign has helped countless individuals across the country via scholarships, clothing and food donations and financial contributions, participated alongside hundreds of volunteers to build a KaBOOM! playground in just one day in New Orleans on Feb. 15 at the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood and Family Learning Center in conjunction with the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.
Inspired by the massive community involvement and the tangible result of a playground that will serve thousands of children, Jamison contacted KaBOOM! to facilitate building a playground near his childhood home of Shreveport on Sept. 4. Additionally, Jamison is a KaBOOM! All-Star Playmaker - an extension of the Playmaker Network consisting of national leaders and celebrities who take action for play on behalf of KaBOOM!, while promoting the importance of play.
This project is also one of five KaBOOM! playground builds taking place on Sept. 20 across the country. These five playgrounds being built in Chicago, Gulfport (Miss.), Miami, Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. extend the total number of KaBOOM! playspaces built in North America past 1,500 since the inception of KaBOOM! in 1995. Combined, these 1,500 playspaces annually serve more than 750,000 children.
