Chrysler LLC, Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund and Gulf
Coast Community Foundation Representatives Team Up with KaBOOM! and Pass
Christian (Miss.) School District to Build New Child-Designed Playground
at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast Qatar Center in One Day
What: Hundreds of children who will attend the Boys & Girls Clubs of
the Gulf Coast Qatar Center and Pass Christian Elementary/
Middle School are getting a great new place to play. In less
than eight hours on build day, more than 200 volunteers from
The Chrysler Foundation, Chrysler Financial, Champion Chrysler
Jeep(R) Dodge in Gulfport, Miss., the Pass Christian School
District, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast, the
Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund, the Gulf Coast Community
Foundation, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the local
community will assemble a new playground at the Center and
school, which will share the playground. The new playground's
design is based on drawings provided by students, who attended
a Design Day event in December 2008.
When: Saturday, March 7
-- 8:30 a.m. - Kick off and volunteer deployment
-- 11:30-1:30 p.m. - Best time to view playground under
construction
-- 3 p.m. - Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate new play area
(Note: all times approximate)
Who: -- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast Executive Director
Samuel J. Burke
-- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast Chief Volunteer
Officer Wes Fulmer
-- Pass Christian School District Superintendent Dr. Sue
Matheson
-- KaBOOM! CEO & Co-Founder Darell Hammond
-- Champion Chrysler Jeep Dodge General Manager Vic Dehon
-- Champion Chrysler Jeep Dodge Sales Manager Gary Fitzhugh
Where: Pass Christian School District/Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf
Coast Qatar Center
220 Church Street
Pass Christian, Miss. 39571
Why: When the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast Qatar Center
opens in June 2009, it will be the first permanent
Boys & Girls Club to open in Pass Christian since Hurricane
Katrina. In addition, the Pass Christian Elementary/Middle
School will also open in June 2009 and will provide children
from the city with their first permanent school since the
hurricane.
The playspace will be the 24th of 25 scheduled to be built by
KaBOOM!, The Chrysler Foundation; Chrysler Financial and
Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealers across the country to provide
more than 70,000 children with a great place to play.
In addition, the playspace is the 15th built by KaBOOM!, the
Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund and the Gulf Coast
Community Foundation and is part of Operation Playground,
the KaBOOM! initiative to build playgrounds in areas affected
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The playspace is also one of more than 200 builds KaBOOM! Will
lead across the country in 2009 in an effort to provide an
enjoyable place to play within walking distance of every child
in America.
Visuals: -- Before and after shots of the site
-- Volunteers assembling brightly colored playground equipment
-- Volunteers hauling approximately 72,900 square feet of
mulch by hand in tarps
-- Volunteers mixing approximately 56,256 pounds of concrete
by hand in wheelbarrows
-- Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground
For more information, please visit the Chrysler media site at http://www.media.chrysler.com/.
Contact:
Jodi Tinson
Chrysler
(248) 512-2944 (office)
(586) 219-0677 (cell)
jt658@chrysler.com
Teresa Allen
Pass Christian School District
(228) 255-6200 (office)
tallen@pc.k12.ms.us
Greg Gipson
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast
(228) 896-3770 (office)
ggipson@bgcgulfcoast.org
Mike Vietti
KaBOOM!
(202) 464-6076 (office)
(202) 327-0086 (cell)
mvietti@kaboom.org
PRNewswire - March 2
