From the City of Anaheim:
The City of Anaheim is proud to announce its recent designation as a 2014 Playful City USA, for its commitment to providing places and opportunities for children’s year-round balanced and active play.
Anaheim strives to continue to create and maintain a vibrant park system consisting of well-maintained parks which provide safe, challenging recreational opportunities that feature playgrounds with exciting play opportunities. These playgrounds energize children and stimulate their minds, as well as offer physical challenges that encourage fitness to be part of their daily lives.
“Anaheim is a great place to live, work and play, with an emphasis on play,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait. “My thanks to everyone at KaBOOM! and the Humana Foundation for recognizing the importance of outdoor recreation, and for partnering with Anaheim to renovate several of our existing playgrounds. Our children are the true winners of these acts of kindness and generosity.”
“With the tremendous support of our friends at Humana Foundation, we are thrilled to recognize all of these communities that are working to ensure all kids, particularly the 16 million that live in poverty, get the play they need to thrive,” says KaBOOM! CEO and Founder Darell Hammond.
Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard added, “We’re excited about our journey with KaBOOM! and we appreciate the shared values that Humana, the Humana Foundation, and the KaBOOM! organization can rally around. Making it easy for families to play, be healthy and thrive together is a part of Humana’s dream, and it’s a commitment that all of us at Humana enjoy sharing with KaBOOM!.”
KaBOOM! has participated in the renovation of five Anaheim park’s play areas (Edison, Stoddard, Schweitzer, Modjeska and John Marshall), as well as has added other amenities within the parks.
This marks Anaheim’s first designation as a 2014 Playful City USA. In total, 212 cities and towns across the United States were 2014 Playful City USA honorees. Anaheim is the 23rd city in California to receive this distinction, and only the second city in Orange County.
Playful City USA is a national recognition program sponsored by the Humana Foundation, honoring cities and towns that champion efforts to make play a priority through establishing policy initiatives, infrastructure investments and innovative programming. The program strives to recognize communities that demonstrate a commitment to ensuring all kids get the balance of active play they need to thrive.
To see the full list of the 212 communities named 2014 Playful City USA honorees, or for more information on the Playful City USA program, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.
