FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Layla Fry, Southwest Key Programs 512-669-8999, LFry@SWKey.org
Margaret Jarvis, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, 972-766-7165, margaret_jarvis@bcbstx.com
Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!, 785-320-2137, mvietti@kaboom.org

NBA STAR T.J. FORD JOINS BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF TEXAS, SOUTHWEST KEY PROGRAMS AND KaBOOM! TO SAVE PLAY BY BUILDING NEW PLAYGROUND IN JUST ONE DAY FOR EAST AUSTIN CHILDREN

WHAT: Former Texas Longhorns point guard and NBA star T.J. Ford will join more than 200 volunteers from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and Southwest Key Programs, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood on Saturday, Sept. 24 to build a new playground at El Centro de Familia community center. The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by children who participated in a Design Day event in July.

WHEN: Saturday, September 24

8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Kick off ceremony and volunteer deployment
11:00 a.m. T.J. Ford arrives on site
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Best viewing of playground construction
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Final construction phase and adjustments
2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate new play area
(Note: all times approximate)

WHERE: El Centro de Familia, 6002 Jain Lane, Austin, TX 78721

WHY:

Today’s kids spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 children live within walking distance of a park or playground. This Play Deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically as well as mentally and socially. Children desperately need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy. KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play. For 15 years, KaBOOM! has been fighting the Play Deficit and saving play by ensuring there is a great place to play within walking distance of every child.

The new playground will provide more than 1,000 children in East Austin with a safe place to play. Currently, the Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood does not have a safe playground for children to enjoy. The Southwest Key Centro de Familia houses several services including the Southwest Key Boys & Girls Club, East Austin College Prep Academy and Austin Community College GED and ESL classes.

The playground project is one of nine playground builds taking place in 2011 and is part of “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families,” a three-year initiative designed to improve the health and wellness of at least 1 million children through community investments by Health Care Service Corporation and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families” invests in non-profit organizations that encourage health education, promote physical activity, prevent and manage disease, and support safe environments for children.

The playground is the second built by KaBOOM! and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas in an effort to fight the Play Deficit and save play. The project is one of more than 150 playground builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2011 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

WHO:

Former Texas point guard and NBA star T.J. Ford
Local elected officials
Hundreds of volunteers from the community

VISUALS:

Before and after shots of the site
Volunteers assembling brightly colored playground equipment
Volunteers moving 43,740 square feet of safety surfacing by hand
Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground

Southwest Key Programs
For almost 25 years, Southwest Key Programs has worked to keep doors to opportunity open for young people so they can achieve their dreams. Through family- and community-based programs for children caught in the juvenile justice system, youth can be rehabilitated and build positive and productive lives upon release. Through the East Austin Children’s Promise initiative, a model program designed to offer quality education to the children in East Austin, adult education, job training opportunities, cultural arts programs, and community building, Southwest Key is empowering families to improve their own lives, and their communities as a whole. For more information, visit www.swkey.org.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas – the only statewide, customer-owned health insurer in Texas – is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with nearly 40,000 physicians and 400 hospitals to serve 4.6 million members in all 254 counties. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma and New Mexico), the country’s largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall. Health Care Service Corporation is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Healthy Kids, Healthy Families
“Healthy Kids, Healthy Families” is a three-year initiative designed to encourage health education, promote physical activity, prevent and manage disease, and support safe environments for children. The program works through investments and partnerships with nonprofit organizations that offer sustainable, measurable programs to reach children directly, through schools and other third parties. Major founding partners include The OrganWise Guys, KaBOOM! and mobile health vans. The program is supported by Health Care Service Corporation and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. For more information or to seek partnership and funding opportunities, please visit www.HealthyKidsHealthyFamilies.org.

KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

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