KaBoom! Offers Playground Grants

KaBoom! has developed a unique opportunity to jump start the playground building process for communities in need, by offering $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 grants towards the purchase of new playground equipment.

EducationNews.org: KaBOOM! Offers Playground Planners $5,000 Grants
EducationNews.org on 2010-02-11 08:58:00 ·

• Fans Vote for Most Compelling Video

To help jumpstart the playground building process for communities in need, KaBOOM!, the national non-profit that makes kids and communities healthier by creating great places to play, has partnered with the nation’s top playground equipment vendors to offer $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000 grants towards the purchase of new playground equipment.

Three grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to communities who receive the most votes in an online video voting competition. Competing communities need to create an online video that pitches their project to potential funders, supporters and volunteers and then enter their project into the KaBOOM! Project Planner before the end of February. The KaBOOM! Project Planner is a free online tool designed to walk communities step-by-step through the playground building process, from fundraising and volunteer recruitment to vendor selection and site preparation. Already, communities have entered 1,500 playground projects into the planner because it gives them access to KaBOOM! resources and information, empowers them to engage their community in their project, and enables them to share their plans and ideas quickly and easily with their team members and potential supporters. For the competition, videos should be no more than 60 seconds in length, be targeted at potential supporters (not KaBOOM!) and demonstrate the importance of the project to the community.

Once completed, KaBOOM! will host all the videos online so that communities can use their video as both a contest entry and a tool to garner support for their project. By sending links to their video out to their social media networks, all participating communities have the ability to spread their message and garner massive amounts of support for their projects. At the end of February, KaBOOM! will select the five most compelling videos and will invite the public to vote for their favorite. The videos with the most votes will receive up to $5,000, $3,000, or $1,000 in grants towards their purchase of equipment from the KaBOOM! Preferred Vendors that best meets their needs. The winning videos will also serve as examples of creative and effective ways other communities can garner support and engage supporters online. Grant winners will be announced in April, but by inspiring their individual communities to rally around their projects, all participants will get additional support to help them reach their goals.

KaBOOM! PREFERRED VENDORSKaBOOM!
Preferred Vendors have been selected because of their high industry standards, their consistent installation quality, their national reach, and their commitment to playground innovation.

CONTEST RULES
The contest rules are simple. Entrants must upload a project video, up to 60 seconds in length, to their KaBOOM! Project Page during the month of February. Then, KaBOOM! will judge the videos, and the top five will be chosen as finalists. Finalists will be determined by both their video and their progress through and interaction with their project website. Finalists will be competing for playground equipment grants (with the grand prize of up to $5,000 towards their purchase cost) provided by KaBOOM! Preferred Vendors. Equipment must be purchased from one of these vendors in order to receive the grant. The final amount of the awarded grant cannot be greater than 25% of the total purchase price. KaBOOM! Preferred Vendors have been selected because of their high industry standards, their consistent installation quality, their national reach, and their commitment to playground innovation. Finalists will be put up for public voting on kaboom.org in March to determine the winners! Grant winners will be announced in April, but by inspiring their individual communities to rally around their projects, all participants will get additional support to help them reach their goals.

Please contact Snider & Associates with any additional questions.
www.cvsnider.com or 800-888-2889

Are your Indoor Telescopic Bleachers Sagging?

Are your indoor telescopic bleachers sagging and giving you difficulty operating open or closed?

The number one problem with bleacher operation is sagging! This is caused by students climbing on them in the closed or partially open position. Over time this fatigues the understructure. Only the first and last rows have proper support. The rows in between are supported only from the back frame with no adequate support in the front. We at Snider and Associates have a solution to this problem and would like to visit your facility to review your bleacher system.

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NRPA - President Budget Alert

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) just posted this information....

www.nrpa.org

Yesterday, President Obama released his proposed $3.8 trillion budget for FY 2011, which included increased funding for several programs of interest to parks and recreation agencies. Most notably, the President's budget calls for $434 million in funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), with $50 million for the Stateside Program. The President's Budget also calls for several new programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development that hold promise for parks and recreation. To view the budget analysis, click here.

NRPA is thrilled that the Obama Administration recognizes the importance of parks and recreation and is moving toward a renewed investment in this area. However, the fight continues as we try to convince Congress that more funding is needed to try and offset the billions of dollars in unmet needs currently experienced by states and localities across the country. Agencies across the U.S. are struggling to provide essential services necessary for community stability and health.

Our membership is the largest collection of parks and recreation professionals, students, and citizens in the nation. By advocating together, we can collectively send messages to the Administration that communicate how vital parks and recreation are to the American public and influence the Administration's further support. While the President's budget signals a renewed interest in parks and recreation, it is only a proposal, and Congress has the responsibility of determining funding amounts. Now more than ever, we need park and recreation advocates to attend the Legislative Forum. It is your voice that will help shape our future.