Elk Grove playground will find new life in foreign country

The play equipment at Clark Park in Elk Grove Village is on its way to a new home thanks to Kids Around the World, a nonprofit organization that refurbishes playground equipment and installs it in impoverished areas around the world.

The Elk Grove Park District has partnered with Kids Around the World for more than 10 years to make older equipment and play available to children who need it at schools, orphanages or villages. Play is so important for children's development, no matter where they live.

Repurposing the equipment from Elk Grove parks, Kids Around the World will repaint, package, ship and install the equipment. They use corporate and private contributions to help with shipping costs, which can exceed $20,000 per playground.

Kids Around the World volunteers will meet to help local communities to install the equipment where it is needed. Some of the locations that Elk Grove playgrounds have gone to are Nepal, Haiti, Romania and Kenya.

Thanks to Elk Grove Park District's contribution of playground equipment, more kids will have the opportunity to play and be healthier and happier.

The new playground equipment at Clark Park will be installed later this fall and ready for Elk Grove kids to have fun, too.

The new equipment is partially funded by a grant from Gametime, and will be appropriate for children ages 2-5 with supervision. Swings, a merry-go-round and play structure with climbers and slides will be located just east of the old playground.

New site furniture will complete the renovation.

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