The City of Hickory and the Kiwanis Clubs of Catawba County are joining with the community, as well as numerous sponsors, to build the Zahra Baker All Children’s Playground at the Kiwanis Park on 805 6th Street SE, just off Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard. The City and Kiwanis Clubs are inviting the community to volunteer their time to be a part of this amazing community build that will be held April 12 – 14, 2012.
The new playground amenities are to include a 50’ slide, a play web of interactive features, a sand area, swings and much more. This effort will take hundreds of volunteers from the community to build the playground in three days, Thursday – Saturday. Thursday’s work will include the unloading and staging set-ups, while Friday and Saturday will be installing the playground equipment. Friday and Saturday will be broken into two shifts, 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m, while Thursday will only be one shift. With the number of volunteers expected, at this time volunteering is limited to one shift per person. A wait list will be kept in the event that volunteers can take additional shifts. The Parks and Recreation Department is taking volunteer registration from now until March 23, 2012 at (828) 261-2248. Volunteers must be 18 or older to participate in the construction build. Any volunteers ages 14 – 17 will not be on the construction site, but can work in other vital areas. All volunteers will need to sign a waiver form to participate in the community build.
Businesses, organizations and the community have partnered with the City and Kiwanis Clubs to support the playground. There is also a separate group of sponsors that are contributing to the Community Build that include Playworld Systems, Let’s Play, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, KaBOOM!, Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A, Galaxy Food Centers and McDonalds. “The Zahra Baker playground project in Hickory is an incredible example of what can happen when a community unites together to achieve a common goal,” said KaBOOM! Founder and CEO Darell Hammond. “KaBOOM! recognized Hickory as a Playful City USA community in 2011 because of the city’s dedication to increasing play opportunities for children and we’re extremely pleased that KaBOOM! and Dr Pepper Snapple Group could provide a Let’s Play Construction Grant to help bring play to children in Hickory.”
Mack McLeod, Director of the City of Hickory Parks and Recreation Department, stated, “Being able to have the community and businesses involved in the building of this playground in memory of Zahra Baker is wonderful. We are excited to work with many individuals over the three-day build to develop a very interactive park for children of all ages. Playworld Systems and KaBOOM! have been great to work with, offering years of experience in building playgrounds and providing interactive options for children. Many people and organizations have been involved in making this happen and to see it come to life is exciting for everyone.”
“This has been a true grass roots community campaign,” said Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright. “We appreciate the Kiwanis Clubs of Catawba County for spearheading the campaign and thanks to all the individuals, businesses, organizations, and foundations that donated to the playground. We are truly excited that the playground will be built with volunteers, and I feel confident that it will be an experience of a lifetime. What a great way to honor a little girl that touched so many hearts not only in our community, but across the globe.”
The community, businesses, foundations and grant funds have collectively donated more than $200,000 for the Playground for Zahra. The playground, in which children of all abilities will be able to play, is in honor of the late Zahra Clare Baker who was murdered at the age of 10 in the fall of 2010. The community effort was spearheaded by the Kiwanis Clubs of Catawba County.
The campaign kicked off on February 14, 2011, and a ground breaking ceremony was held on November 16, 2011 which would have been Zahra’s 12th birthday. During the November ceremony, playground plans were unveiled, and within a couple of weeks another large donation was given and a second phase of the playground was added.
“The tremendous support for the Playground for Zahra has been heartwarming and the Kiwanis Clubs of Catawba County are honored to be a part of such a worthwhile project that will enhance the lives of all children for many, many decades,” said Steve Aaron, who has been the committee chairman and also is a member of the Western Catawba County Kiwanis Club.
For more information about the project, go to www.playgroundforzahra.org.
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