Kids around world to benefit from Batavia playground

Every 15 years, the Batavia Park District replaces playground equipment to ensure the safety of the equipment and the children playing on it. Saratoga Park was scheduled to receive a new playground this summer to replace the equipment that was installed in 1996. In past years the contractor typically removes the equipment and scraps it for very little value, but in an effort to be more environmentally responsible, the Park District contracted Kids Around the World to recycle the Saratoga Park playground and add great value to an underprivileged community in another part of the world.

Tim Clauson, Playground Director for Kids Around the World, has been working with suburban park districts such as Carol Stream and Wheaton for more than a year to recycle playground equipment and deliver it to communities around the world who are without playgrounds. Clauson met Jim Eby, Director of Planning and Development for the Batavia Park District, at a meeting earlier this summer and shared stories of recent projects.

The process is quite simple, Clauson explained. First a team of volunteers dismantles a playground. Then they take the equipment to their warehouse headquartered in Rockford. The team repaints the equipment or makes any necessary repairs prior to finding a location for it. Then they consider the size of the equipment and ages it's geared toward before finally partnering with local nonprofit groups to get the equipment overseas.

“Typically we recycle playgrounds to parks, orphanages and schools in third world countries,” said Clauson, “A team of volunteers goes overseas to complete the installation.” Organizations such as Rotary help cover the cost of the shipping. To date, more than 207 playground builds have been completed in 40 countries, including Ecuador, Bosni, Haiti and Zambia. In most cases it takes a year before the playground is installed in its new home. In the beginning of October, the “Kids Around the World” team was installing a recycled playground in the jungles of Peru that was removed from the Carol Stream Park District in 2010.

At the end of September, a team or four or five volunteers from Kids Around the World came to Batavia to dismantle the playground equipment at Saratoga Park. “It was a very quick and easy process,” said Eby, “This certainly won't be the last time we work with Kids Around the World.” Next year, the playground equipment at Millview Park is scheduled to be replaced, and Eby has already contracted Clauson and his team to recycle the equipment. Perhaps by then, kids in another part of the world will be enjoying the recycled equipment from Saratoga Park.

To learn more about Kids Around the World, visit www.kidsaroundtheworld.com.