KaBOOM!
Encyclopedia
KaBOOM! is an American non-profit organization
that helps communities build playgrounds for children.
and Dawn Hutchison founded KaBOOM! in 1996. They were inspired to start KaBOOM! after reading a story in The Washington Post
about two local children who suffocated while playing in an abandoned car because they had nowhere else to play. Hammond had previously helped build several playgrounds for other charitable organizations. Hammond was also partially inspired by his upbringing in the Mooseheart Child City & School
, a group home in Mooseheart, Illinois. Hammond previously studied under Dr. John Kretzmann, director of the Assets Based Community Development Institute in the Northwestern University
in Evanston, Illinois
. The institute, which focuses on mobilizing struggling communities using resources already at hand, served as a community-build model for KaBOOM! Hammond was also influenced by his participation in the Columbus, Ohio
, and Chicago
engagements of City Year
, an AmeriCorps
program seeking to build democracy through citizen service and social entrepreneurship
.
Hammond and his friend Dawn Hutchison built their first KaBOOM! community playground in October 1995. The two were contacted by Youth Service America
to plan a day of service. Although not yet operating under the KaBOOM! name, they chose to build a playground at Livingston Manor in southeast Washington, D.C. The playground build lasted five days and involved more than 500 volunteers. Inspired by the build, Hammond and Hutchison incorporated KaBOOM! in April 1996. Kimberly-Clark
, the corporation behind paper-based consumer products like Kleenex
, chose to serve as KaBOOM!'s first funding partner as a way of celebrating their 125th anniversary. Kimberly-Clark partnered with KaBOOM! to build 38 playgrounds in 1997. Hutchison left KaBOOM! that year.
In 1997, KaBOOM! launched the "Let Us Play" campaign, which sought to build, renovate or provide assistance to develop 1,000 community-built playgrounds by the year 2000. Vice President
Al Gore
and General
Colin Powell
helped launch the program. By 1999, KaBOOM! had 50 funding partners and was building more than 50 playgrounds a year.
KaBOOM! launched Operation Playground in December 2005, an initiative to build 100 playgrounds in the Gulf Coast
areas affected by Hurricane Katrina
and Hurricane Rita
.
In 2003, KaBOOM! began building skateparks under the Eskal8 name. However, this program was discontinued in 2009 when the equipment manufacturer contracted by the organization discontinued the line of products that KaBOOM! volunteers could use. In 2004, KaBOOM! started offering toolkits, training packages and other forms technical assistance to communities seeking to build playgrounds without the charity's direct oversight. Darell Hammond also made the charity's project handbooks, best practices and guidelines available for free on the organization's website.
In 2007, the organization formed the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, a program focused specifically on rallying individuals and governments to the KaBOOM! cause.
In 2005, KaBOOM! and The Home Depot
formed a $25 million partnership for the "1,000 playgrounds in 1,000 days" program. The two groups also build sports fields and ice rink projects, as well as playgrounds. In January 2006, First Lady
Laura Bush
attended Operation Playground's first playground build at the Hancock North Central Elementary School
in Kiln
, Mississippi
.
In 2009, The Home Depot Foundation became the official "Sustainability Partner" of KaBOOM!. The partnership was formed to minimize the environmental impact of playground builds and educate communities on environmentalism
and sustainability
. Together, KaBOOM! and Home Depot have created procedures for environmental-friendly building titled "Guidelines for Eco-Friendly Service Projects". Organizations and community leaders can utilize the Guide when planning construction or building projects.
Pierre Omidyar
, founder and chairman of the Internet auction company eBay
, contributed $5 million to KaBOOM! for the establishment of its website and to support the organization's National Campaign for Play, which advocates the importance and health benefits of play to legislators and policy experts. In addition to Home Depot, KaBOOM! has worked in collaboration with such corporations as Target
, Fannie Mae and Ben & Jerry's
, which created an ice cream flavor "KaBerry KaBOOM" to benefit the organization.
KaBOOM! was featured prominently in an episode of the NBC
comedy series Parks and Recreation
which aired October 22, 2009. The episode, called "Kaboom
", included a subplot in which protagonist Leslie Knope
(played by Amy Poehler
) becomes so inspired by the energy of a KaBOOM! playground build that she takes proactive steps to build a playground in her own home town. The episode was part of a campaign in which more than 60 television shows on multiple networks spotlighted real-life charities in an effort to encourage volunteerism.
In 2010, KaBOOM! formed a partnership with Amgen
, the world's largest biotechnology firm, to build 7 playgrounds across the US and Puerto Rico.
gave dedication address for a KaBOOM! playground built at the Hancock North Central Elementary School in Kiln, Mississippi
. The project was commissioned after the Hurricane Katrina
catastrophe that hit the Gulf Coast region of the United States.
In June 2009, KaBOOM! volunteers worked with United States First Lady Michelle Obama
and California First Lady Maria Shriver
to build a playground in San Francisco. The playground construction was commissioned under the Obama Administration's summer "United We Serve" initiative.
Since 2007, the charity has been creating additional online education and training online to give those interested in the cause of play access to industry thought leaders and research. For example, the organization has a social media
site at Connect.Kaboom.Org. The social network connects individuals interested in building playgrounds with others interested in helping and those able to provide insights into the process. The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder offers users an online map to add, find and rate local playgrounds.
The organization follows a strict process for designing and building playgrounds. The organization also offers "Do-It-Yourself" planning tools and how-to guides for those interested in building or improving a playground.
Chrysler
chairman Robert Nardelli
, who previously worked with KaBOOM!, called the charity "one of the best-run nonprofits".
The Playful City USA campaign recognized communities across the country that have made a commitment to play. In 2010, 118 cities were designated Playful City USA communities, representing 36 states.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that helps communities build playgrounds for children.
History
Darell HammondDarell Hammond
Darell Hammond is an American philanthropist, founder and chief executive officer of the non-profit organization KaBOOM! that helps communities build playgrounds for children. Very active in running the company, Hammond also speaks at conferences and universities about his work and blogs on The...
and Dawn Hutchison founded KaBOOM! in 1996. They were inspired to start KaBOOM! after reading a story in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
about two local children who suffocated while playing in an abandoned car because they had nowhere else to play. Hammond had previously helped build several playgrounds for other charitable organizations. Hammond was also partially inspired by his upbringing in the Mooseheart Child City & School
Moose International
Moose International is a fraternal and service organization founded in 1888, consisting of the Loyal Order of Moose, with nearly 1 million men in roughly 2,400 Lodges, in all 50 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, plus Great Britain and Bermuda; and the Women of the Moose with more than...
, a group home in Mooseheart, Illinois. Hammond previously studied under Dr. John Kretzmann, director of the Assets Based Community Development Institute in the Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. The institute, which focuses on mobilizing struggling communities using resources already at hand, served as a community-build model for KaBOOM! Hammond was also influenced by his participation in the Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
engagements of City Year
City Year
City Year is an education-focused nonprofit organization that partners with public schools to provide full-time targeted intervention keeping students in school and on track to graduate...
, an AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...
program seeking to build democracy through citizen service and social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change . While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a...
.
Hammond and his friend Dawn Hutchison built their first KaBOOM! community playground in October 1995. The two were contacted by Youth Service America
Youth Service America
Youth Service America, or YSA, is a resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally." YSA has a reputation for supporting and promoting...
to plan a day of service. Although not yet operating under the KaBOOM! name, they chose to build a playground at Livingston Manor in southeast Washington, D.C. The playground build lasted five days and involved more than 500 volunteers. Inspired by the build, Hammond and Hutchison incorporated KaBOOM! in April 1996. Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle", Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes"...
, the corporation behind paper-based consumer products like Kleenex
Kleenex
Kleenex is a brand name for a variety of toiletry paper-based products such as facial tissue, bathroom tissue, paper towels, and diapers. The name Kleenex is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Often used as a genericized trademark, especially in the United States, "Kleenex"...
, chose to serve as KaBOOM!'s first funding partner as a way of celebrating their 125th anniversary. Kimberly-Clark partnered with KaBOOM! to build 38 playgrounds in 1997. Hutchison left KaBOOM! that year.
In 1997, KaBOOM! launched the "Let Us Play" campaign, which sought to build, renovate or provide assistance to develop 1,000 community-built playgrounds by the year 2000. Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
and General
General (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
helped launch the program. By 1999, KaBOOM! had 50 funding partners and was building more than 50 playgrounds a year.
KaBOOM! launched Operation Playground in December 2005, an initiative to build 100 playgrounds in the Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States
The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States...
areas affected by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
.
In 2003, KaBOOM! began building skateparks under the Eskal8 name. However, this program was discontinued in 2009 when the equipment manufacturer contracted by the organization discontinued the line of products that KaBOOM! volunteers could use. In 2004, KaBOOM! started offering toolkits, training packages and other forms technical assistance to communities seeking to build playgrounds without the charity's direct oversight. Darell Hammond also made the charity's project handbooks, best practices and guidelines available for free on the organization's website.
In 2007, the organization formed the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, a program focused specifically on rallying individuals and governments to the KaBOOM! cause.
Partnerships with national business
The Home Depot has been a long-standing partner of KaBOOM! projects. When KaBOOM! became incorporated in 1996, The Home Depot became the KaBOOM!'s founding partner, and has been building playgrounds with KaBOOM! every year since. The Home Depot Foundation has supported KaBOOM!'s "1,000 Playgrounds in 1,000 Days" initiative,In 2005, KaBOOM! and The Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...
formed a $25 million partnership for the "1,000 playgrounds in 1,000 days" program. The two groups also build sports fields and ice rink projects, as well as playgrounds. In January 2006, First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
attended Operation Playground's first playground build at the Hancock North Central Elementary School
Hancock County School District
The Hancock County School District is a public school district based in the community of Kiln, Mississippi .In addition to Kiln, the district also serves the communities of Diamondhead, Pearlington, portions of Shoreline Park, as well as portions of rural Hancock County.-Elementary Schools:*Grades...
in Kiln
Kiln, Mississippi
Kiln is a census-designated place in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
.
In 2009, The Home Depot Foundation became the official "Sustainability Partner" of KaBOOM!. The partnership was formed to minimize the environmental impact of playground builds and educate communities on environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
. Together, KaBOOM! and Home Depot have created procedures for environmental-friendly building titled "Guidelines for Eco-Friendly Service Projects". Organizations and community leaders can utilize the Guide when planning construction or building projects.
Pierre Omidyar
Pierre Omidyar
Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-Iranian American entrepreneur and philanthropist/economist, and the founder/chairman of the eBay auction site...
, founder and chairman of the Internet auction company eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, contributed $5 million to KaBOOM! for the establishment of its website and to support the organization's National Campaign for Play, which advocates the importance and health benefits of play to legislators and policy experts. In addition to Home Depot, KaBOOM! has worked in collaboration with such corporations as Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
, Fannie Mae and Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...
, which created an ice cream flavor "KaBerry KaBOOM" to benefit the organization.
KaBOOM! was featured prominently in an episode of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
comedy series Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...
which aired October 22, 2009. The episode, called "Kaboom
Kaboom (Parks and Recreation)
"Kaboom" is the sixth episode of the second season of Parks and Recreation, and the twelfth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on October 22, 2009...
", included a subplot in which protagonist Leslie Knope
Leslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
(played by Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) becomes so inspired by the energy of a KaBOOM! playground build that she takes proactive steps to build a playground in her own home town. The episode was part of a campaign in which more than 60 television shows on multiple networks spotlighted real-life charities in an effort to encourage volunteerism.
In 2010, KaBOOM! formed a partnership with Amgen
Amgen
Amgen Inc. is an international biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Located in the Conejo Valley, Amgen is the world's largest independent biotech firm. The company employs approximately 17,000 staff members. Its products include Epogen, Aranesp, Enbrel, Kineret,...
, the world's largest biotechnology firm, to build 7 playgrounds across the US and Puerto Rico.
Work with presidential administrations
KaBOOM! volunteers have worked closely with presidential administrations to serve domestic relief and education programs. In January 2006, then First Lady Laura BushLaura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
gave dedication address for a KaBOOM! playground built at the Hancock North Central Elementary School in Kiln, Mississippi
Kiln, Mississippi
Kiln is a census-designated place in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. The project was commissioned after the Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
catastrophe that hit the Gulf Coast region of the United States.
In June 2009, KaBOOM! volunteers worked with United States First Lady Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
and California First Lady Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
to build a playground in San Francisco. The playground construction was commissioned under the Obama Administration's summer "United We Serve" initiative.
Methods
KaBOOM! organizers build a playground set during a single day. The process begins about six months before the actual construction, when KaBOOM! seeks a funding partner, searches for an appropriate site and considers the economic needs of the neighborhood. About 10 weeks before the playground build, project managers visit the community and speak to children about what types and colors of playground equipment they prefer. Three different designs are drafted and the community chooses the final one. A typical playground ranges from between $70,000 and $125,000. KaBOOM! requires its local communities to raise about 10% of the cost, which Darell Hammond described as "a way of engaging the community to solve its own challenges".Since 2007, the charity has been creating additional online education and training online to give those interested in the cause of play access to industry thought leaders and research. For example, the organization has a social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
site at Connect.Kaboom.Org. The social network connects individuals interested in building playgrounds with others interested in helping and those able to provide insights into the process. The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder offers users an online map to add, find and rate local playgrounds.
The organization follows a strict process for designing and building playgrounds. The organization also offers "Do-It-Yourself" planning tools and how-to guides for those interested in building or improving a playground.
Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
chairman Robert Nardelli
Robert Nardelli
Robert Louis "Bob" Nardelli was the chairman and chief executive officer of Chrysler. He had earlier served in a similar capacity at The Home Depot from December 2000 to January 2007. Prior to that, Nardelli had risen to become one of the top four executives at General Electric...
, who previously worked with KaBOOM!, called the charity "one of the best-run nonprofits".
KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play
The KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play program, launched in 2007, is intended to encourage individuals and governments to embrace the KaBOOM! cause. It has two components: the Playmaker Network and Playful City USA. The first of these provides tools and training to individuals to assist them in outreaching to their communities in creating and cleaning play spaces. It also recognizes "Playmakers of the month" for their achievements.The Playful City USA campaign recognized communities across the country that have made a commitment to play. In 2010, 118 cities were designated Playful City USA communities, representing 36 states.