Vilonia Builds New Playground to Restore Play in Vilonia Youth
More than 200 volunteers from Kimberly-Clark, the City of Vilonia, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the Vilonia community joined forces on Saturday, April 18, 2015, to give area kids the childhood they deserve by building a new playground at Soaring Eagle Memorial Park. The design was based on children’s drawings created at a special design event in February.
A playground is more than a playground. It’s a brain-expander, friend-maker, and muscle-builder. Play is central to a child’s ability to grow into a productive adult. It can transform children from sedentary, bored and solitary to physically, mentally and socially active. KaBOOM! works to bring balanced and active play into the daily lives of all children, particularly those growing up in poverty in America. We do this by creating great places to play, inspiring communities to promote and support play and driving the national discussion about the importance of play in fostering healthy and productive lives.
The new playground will bring more than 2,100 kids in Vilonia one step closer to having the childhood they deserve. On Sunday, April 27, 2014, an EF4 tornado struck the City of Vilonia, taking the lives of Vilonia residents and destroying dozens of homes and 70% of Vilonia’s businesses. Included in the tornado’s path of damage were the playground and ball fields located on Cemetery Street. Once a hub of community life and play, the park located on Cemetery Street was the only public park in Vilonia and the unincorporated communities that surround the city. In the wake of this tragedy, the revitalization of this park is critical to restoring a sense of play, joy and community to The City of Vilonia.
The playground, sponsored by the Scott® Brand at Kimberly-Clark, will be the 42nd built by the company and KaBOOM!. The Scott Brand and Kimberly-Clark are proud to support KaBOOM! and give children a place to come together and enjoy the play they deserve. The Scott Brand takes pride in sharing its value and providing a lasting positive impact to consumers and their communities and is invested in making communities more sustainable by creating a better world for the next generation. Last year the Scott Brand rolled out their Tube Free bath tissue nationally which is focused on making a dent in reducing the 17 billion toilet paper tubes that are used in the US each year. The Scott Brand and Kimberly-Clark are proud to support KaBOOM! and give children a place to come together and enjoy the play they deserve.