JetBlue Airways and KaBOOM! to Build Additional Playground Space in Revere, Ma.
Hundreds of volunteers from the airline and The Neighborhood Developers, organizers from KaBOOM! and local City of Revere residents are coming together to build a second playground in Revere
BOSTON, June 15, 2012 / 3BL Media / PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) is pleased to announce that it's once again teaming up with KaBOOM! as well as The Neighborhood Developers and the City of Revere to build its 14th playground on Wednesday, June 20 at Costa Park in Revere, Massachusetts. The playground build begins with a kickoff ceremony at 8:30 a.m. ET and the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be around 2:30 p.m. This is the fourth playground build in Boston and the second built in Costa Park. This past October, JetBlue built the 5-12 year olds of Revere a playground; next week JetBlue will build a new play space for 2-5 year olds. Volunteers can still sign up here.
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"As we continue to grow our operations in Boston we will steadily increase our community efforts here," said JetBlue's Director Corporate Responsibility Icema Gibbs. "This is the first time we've built two adjacent playgrounds, the first for 5-12 year olds and the second for 2-5 year olds as we continue to provide safe spaces for our kids to play. JetBlue is happy we're reaching a larger group in this community and making sure everyone, regardless of age, has a play area to enjoy."
"KaBOOM! is thrilled to continue our tremendous work with our National Partner, JetBlue," said KaBOOM! Founder and CEO Darell Hammond. "Every child deserves to have a great place to play and we're making that possible for children in Revere, while bringing KaBOOM! one step closer to our vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America."
"We are delighted to welcome back the amazing volunteers from JetBlue to complete this new playground alongside community volunteers," said The Neighborhood Developers Executive Director Ann Houston. "This great space for play is a testament to what can be accomplished by strong public-private partnerships that directly involve residents."
"Costa Park is a key recreational resource for one of Revere's most diverse neighborhoods. The City of Revere is thrilled to be partnering with KaBOOM!, JetBlue and The Neighborhood Developers to complete the reconstruction of Costa Park," said Mayor Daniel Rizzo. "Thanks to their dedication and hundreds of volunteers we are creating a state of the art play space."
Costa Park, the children's playground on Shirley Avenue just a few blocks from the Revere Beach T stop, is in need of a second playground to meet all their play needs. Recognizing this, JetBlue is partnering once again with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play, and local residents to do a second park where 2-5 year old children can play. When complete, the new playground will provide a safe play space for 500 children. Crewmembers from JetBlue's station at Boston Logan International Airport, where JetBlue is the largest airline with more than 45 destinations will volunteer their efforts to help build a playground in just one day's time.
The playground will be the 14th built by KaBOOM! and JetBlue Airways and the 4th in Boston with parks built in the Boys & Girls Club of Woburn, Inc. and the Boys and Girls Club of Boston - Roxbury in an effort to fight the play deficit and save play. The fun-loving airline has helped to build playgrounds in Kissimmee and Orlando, Florida, Long Island City, New York, Long Beach, California, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Washington D.C., among other cities. JetBlue is the largest carrier at Boston Logan serving up to 45 nonstop destinations.
About the City of Revere
Hugging the coastline just north of Boston, Revere is a diverse city of 56,000 people. Built on less than six square miles, it is home to a multicultural, socio-economically diverse community of distinct neighborhoods. The City is working hard to revitalize its open spaces and create recreational opportunities for residents of all ages and abilities while protecting its natural resources, developing facilities that promote fitness and health and strengthening community stewardship of its parks. Home to Revere Beach, the first public beach in the nation, Revere serves not only its own population's recreational needs, but also helps serve those of neighboring communities.
About The Neighborhood Developers
The Neighborhood Developers is a community development corporation that seeks to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and to foster equitable community development in Chelsea Massachusetts and neighboring North Shore communities. We were founded in 1979 and for our first 25 years, affordable housing development was our primary area of activity. Over time, we learned that we needed to broaden our community development strategies to achieve meaningful revitalization of distressed neighborhoods. Today, TND employs three investment strategies to build vibrant and sustainable neighborhoods: 1) real estate development to strengthen housing markets and to expand affordable housing inventory; 2) community engagement to foster a resilient social fabric and civic infrastructure; and 3) resident asset development to increase family prosperity. For more information visit www.TheNeighborhoodDevelopers.org.
About 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! in 1996 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 89,000 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.
About JetBlue Corporate Social Responsibility
At JetBlue Airways, our commitment to corporate social responsibility goes beyond raising cause awareness. We are dedicated to developing impactful charitable partnerships, supporting and aligning ourselves with the communities in the cities we serve, and creating significant volunteer experiences for our crewmembers. Our focus is to create programs and opportunities and fully engage our resources to connect with our communities within the areas of Youth & Education, Community, and the Environment. In addition, we align our efforts to reflect the diverse interests and core values of our business by striving to enrich the lives of others. Moving forward, we will sustain JetBlue's charitable efforts through continuous support and unique programs that help promote positive social and environmental change.
About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways, the largest airline in Boston, has created a new airline category based on value, service and style. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch) and super-spacious Even More Legroom seats. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 71 cities with 750 daily flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JET-BLUE (1-800-538-2583), TTY/TDD 1-800-336-5530, 1-801-365-2583, or visit www.jetblue.com.
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