Contact: Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!
Phone: 202-464-6076 or 202-327-0086 

Greensboro Named 'Playful City USA' Community for Second Year

GREENSBORO, NC – (August 18, 2010) – The City of Greensboro has once again been named as a Playful City USA community, recognizing that it ensures its children are active and healthy despite difficult budget constraints.

Playful City USA is a national recognition program honoring cities and towns determined to prioritize play and ensure that children are healthy by providing the time and space for play. This year KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to saving play, recognized 118 cities across the country as Playful City USA communities, including Greensboro. The City was also named a Playful City in 2009. 

KaBOOM! selected Greensboro for 2010 honors because of its commitment to children with its Parks and Recreation Department Adopt-A-Park program, which works directly with neighborhoods to identify and address access issues for existing playgrounds. 

“An extreme misconception exists in our country that play among children is a luxury when, in fact, it’s an absolute necessity,” said Darell Hammond, KaBOOM! CEO and co-founder. “For decades, this notion dominated our actions and we continue to see the damaging results: a monumental lack of play spaces for children and sky-rocketing childhood obesity rates."
 
"Greensboro refused to adhere to the status quo and realized all children deserve a municipal commitment to the cause of play," he adds. "These 118 Playful City USA communities serve as beacons for the rest of our nation that an investment in children is an investment in our future.” 

Each of the 2010 Playful City communities demonstrated creative commitments to the cause of play. A primary goal of the program is to encourage cities and towns to share creative ideas, concepts, and programs in an effort to increase play opportunities for children and prove that parks and play are more important than ever, and can be cost-effective.

According to a report from the National League of Cities, seven out of 10 city officials are responding to the economic crisis by making personnel cuts. A pre-summer National Recreation and Parks Association survey found that 55 percent of its members suffered budget cuts in 2010 and 60 percent expect more in 2011. These funding cutbacks persist despite findings from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey that only 20 percent of homes across the country have parks within a half mile.

For more information on the KaBOOM! Playful City USA program, including applications for 2011, visit www.kaboom.org/playfulcityusa.

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The City works with the community to improve the quality of life for residents through inclusion, diversity, and trust. As the seventh largest employer in Greensboro, the City has a professional staff of 2,800 employees who maintain the values of honesty, integrity, stewardship, and respect. The City is governed by a council-manager form of government with a mayor and eight council members. For more information on the City, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov or call 373-CITY (2489).