Auburn Named to Playful City USA List for third consecutive year, One of 151 communities Nationwide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Daryl Faber, Parks, Arts & Recreation Director
dfaber@auburnwa.gov
253-931-3043

Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!
mvietti@kaboom.org
785-320-2137
202-327-0086

AUBURN, Wash. – September 6, 2011 – Auburn has been named to the 2011 KaBOOM! Playful City USA list; a list comprised of 151 cities in 38 states and one territory being honored for their efforts offer play in their communities. Only three other Washington cities maintain the honor. Playful City USA communities make a commitment to play and physical activity by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community.

In the fifth year of the annual program, 19 Playful City USA communities received recognition for the fifth consecutive year, while 24 earned honors for the fourth time, 29 for the third time (including Auburn), 30 for the second time and 49 claimed their first Playful City USA designation.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, play is important to healthy brain development and allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Today’s children spend less time playing outside than any previous generations in part because only 20-percent live within walking distance of a park or playground. This Play Deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically as well as mentally and socially because children need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy.

“We plan to continue to work with the community to create opportunities and spaces for play to ensure that Auburn remains “More Fun Than You Imagined” notes Daryl Faber, Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation Director. A new gymnasium and activity center, and a new climbing wall will open the first week of October and the City of Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation will continue diverse recreation programming that encourages opportunities to play in Auburn.

As part of this program, the City of Auburn has also applied for a 2011 Let’s Play grant via the Playful City USA program. The $20,000 grant would help fund playground renovations at Game Farm Park using a community playground build process. Grant awards will be announced in mid-September. The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, a member of the leadership circle within the KaBOOM! National Partner Program, is providing the funding for the grants.

Details about playing in Auburn can be found online at www.auburnwa.gov, through the Parks, Arts & Recreation Guide which is available at the Parks, Arts & Recreation Administration building, Auburn Regional Library, and Auburn City Hall, or by calling 253-931-3043.

About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

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