On a beautiful Saturday in Anaheim, over 700 volunteers teamed up with KaBOOM! and the Disneyland Resort to build a brand new playground. Located at Twila Reid Park, just miles minutes away from the Disneyland Resort, a new space for play was created. The 27-acre park was transformed into something great with the help from many volunteers. To make things even more special, this was the largest KaBOOM! playground build and it was also a great way to prepare for the Disneyland Resort’s 60th anniversary.
From new trees, to swing sets, painted murals and so much more, building a park in one day required a lot of elbow grease. So all in good spirits, volunteers were split into teams and selected to a diverse number of tasks. Not only was the event super organized but it also looked like everyone was have a great time. Not to mention, the DJ of the event was playing some great motivational music to get everyone jamming. Songs like “We Built this City” by Starship and Frozen’s “Let it Go,” really got people moving.
The smell in the air of fresh mulch and newly painted park benches were a sign that things were all falling into place. What once was an enjoyable park now became a KaBOOM!-tastic park. With an original playground set in place, work was added on to the existing play equipment. Now with a wide variety of play equipment, that meant double the fun with slides, swings and even a crazy but fun looking spiderweb-like jungle gym.
With KaBOOM! officials, Disney VoluntEARS, YMCA Anaheim volunteers and 26 other volunteering companies, things were turning out nicely. And as for the main thing of importance, safety. There was an endless amount of water available as well as medical staff on hand.
After hours of work, the park was complete. That could only mean one thing, it was time to cut the ribbon and share with the world all the hard work these people accomplished together.
In attendance of the Ribbon cutting was that of Anaheim’s own Mayor, Tom Tait. During the ceremony he shared his gratitude for everyone’s hard work. He said, ” Anaheim is a city of kindness and we talk about kindness all the time.” Adding on, “we created a beautiful park through kindness.”
Also at this event, newly elected Anaheim Family YMCA’s CEO, Richard Good. Good said, ” What happens now is up to the parents and kids on how this gets used.” He continued with much praise to all those that helped made this event so efficient.
Last but not least, Disneyland Resort’s Mary Niven spoke to close out the ribbon cutting ceremony. Niven said, “This project is a milestone for the Walt Disney Company and KaBOOM!” She also noted, “such a great way to kick off the 60th.” She then thanked everyone and even brought out some very special guests. Those special guests being Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.
Just like that, a brand new playground was built!
Check out the photos below to see the construction process and more.
If you are interested in leaning more about the non-profit organization, KaBOOM!, feel free to click here.
To all those that volunteered and organized this event, thank you so much for your work. When communities come together, great things happen.
