200 Community Volunteers Unite to Build a New Playground
at BGCSTL Riverview Gardens Club
The Pacific Life Foundation, Edward Jones and KaBOOM! Put Kids First by Increasing Opportunities to Play
On Saturday, Aug. 18, volunteers from the Pacific Life Foundation, Edward Jones, Riverview Gardens School District, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis and the community joined KaBOOM! to transform an empty site into a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground, two shade sheds, picnic benches and colorful ground art in just six hours at Highland Elementary School in Riverview Gardens School District. The new playground will help make play the easy choice for kids and families in the St. Louis area. 
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 kids from sedentary, bored and solitary to physically, mentally and socially active.
Highland Elementary School and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis serve hundreds of wonderful kids in North St. Louis County who will greatly benefit from this fun and innovative option for play. Through this project, Riverview Gardens School District and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis will work with the Pacific Life Foundation, Edward Jones and KaBOOM! to make a difference in their community and address the most urgent needs of kids.
This past May, club members drew their dream playground. The playground was designed based off their drawings and includes a triple racer slide, monorail and lily pods. It will provide more than 400 kids in St. Louis with a safe place to play.
This year marks Pacific Life’s 150th anniversary and to celebrate this milestone, with support from Edward Jones, the Pacific Life Foundation granted KaBOOM! the funding to help build this playground. This is the 9th playground built between the Pacific Life Foundation and KaBOOM!. Through this partnership, the Pacific Life Foundation, Edward Jones and KaBOOM! are creating an oasis where kids feel valued and loved, and where their potential is supported, nurtured and celebrated. To view the full photo album from the event, click here.
