CSRwire -WAIALUA. - June 11, 2009 "“ Oahu’s children will soon have a new, 29,000 square foot playground at the YMCA of Honolulu’s Camp H.R. Erdman that celebrates nature in a fun and exciting way. The new playground is based on drawings provided by children from the Camp and the surrounding area who attended a Design Day in January.

From Wednesday, June 3 through Saturday, June 6, more than 250 volunteers from the YMCA of Honolulu and residents of the community will join forces with organizers from national non-profit KaBOOM! to construct a Nature Built playground at the Camp. The dedication ceremony is at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 6 at the Camp.

The new playground will be a unique blend of natural elements in a landscape designed to serve as a community playground for years to come. Native plants and materials will be used to create the spacious playground, which will also function as an educational tool on environmental sustainability for the Camp’s children.

Features of the new playground include:

• a large fort partially made using previously cut down trees
  
• a jumping course created from recycled tires and mangrove stumps
  
• a slide embedded into the natural topography of a hill
  
• a maze consisting of native Hawaiian vegetation
  
• an edible forest including native Hawaiian plants
  
• a natural amphitheater/outdoor classroom
  
• a boulder garden of climbable rocks

"We’ve helped communities build more than 1,600 playspaces in the last 13 years, but this is our very first Nature Built playground," said Darell Hammond, KaBOOM! CEO and Co-Founder. "When we’re finished, we’ll have a lasting testament to the importance of children having a great place to play, an example of how creativity can inspire environmentally friendly practices and a clear indication of what can be accomplished with the sweat equity of volunteers working together."

YMCA Camp Erdman has been providing outdoor camp, recreational and environmental education experiences for over 80 years. Each year, children from all over Hawaii visit YMCA Camp Erdman to live, learn and have fun in the great outdoors.

"We are so excited to be selected as the location for the first Nature Built playground of this kind and especially proud of the fact that kids from our community were able to help design it," said Josh Heimowitz, executive director of YMCA Camp Erdman. "Over the years, generations of Hawaii residents have been creating memories at YMCA's Camp Erdman and we are delighted to continue to expand the activities we offer."

Construction on the new playground will commence with a kickoff ceremony on Wednesday, June 3 at 9 a.m. On Wednesday, June 3 through Friday, June 5, volunteers will work on building the playground from 9 a.m. "“ 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, June 6, volunteers will gather at 9:30 a.m. and work until the playground’s completion in the afternoon. A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held onsite at 3 p.m. A reception and dinner will follow for all volunteers involved with the project.

"As an Oahu resident and mom, I'm happy and humbled to be part of this project. Every child deserves a safe and fun place to play, just as I had growing up here," said Pam Omidyar, co-founder of Omidyar Network. "The KaBOOM! playground on the North Shore will also serve as a catalyst for teaching the next generation about sustainability and respect for our island home."

Additional contributors to the project include: Aloha United Way, Architects Hawaii Ltd., Complete Tent Rental, Geico, HFM Food Service, Kokua Hawaii Foundation, Lost at Sea, Rotary Club of Honolulu, Sky Dive Hawaii, TR3EES, Turtle Bay Resort, Waialua Soda Works, Waimea Falls Grill and Y.Hata & Company.

A media kit, including 3D renderings of the playground, is available at www.ymcahonolulu.org. Directions to the build site can be found at www.ymcahonolulu.org./locations/camp_erdman.

YMCA of Honolulu/Camp H.R. Erdman
For 140 years, the YMCA of Honolulu has been a place where friends and neighbors come together to build strong communities by serving thousands of children, teens and adults.  Programs offered include:  before and after school care, youth sports, teen leadership programs, camp, substance abuse counseling and treatment, and health and wellness.  The YMCA of Honolulu operates nine branches throughout Oahu.

Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $270 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more about Omidyar Network, please visit www.omidyar.com.

KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since 1995, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,600 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, regional and national trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers "“ a national network of individual advocates for play. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif.

For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to the bold goal of ensuring that all children, particularly the 16 million American children living in poverty, get the active play they need to become healthy and successful adults. KaBOOM! has been a powerful champion for play since its founding in 1996, working with partners to build, improve, and open more than 15,000 playgrounds, engage more than 1,000,000 volunteers and serve more than 6,600,000 children. KaBOOM! creates and catalyzes great places to play; inspires, empowers and leads play advocates; and elevates the societal conversation about the importance of play in children’s lives. For more information, visit kaboom.org/act.

More from KaBOOM!