Friends of KaBOOM! ,

I hope this note finds each of you well. I wanted to let you know that we have a significant week coming up here at KaBOOM!.

On Saturday, June 14, we’ll be coming full circle with our Operation Playground initiative to build 100 playgrounds in the Gulf Coast, returning to Bay St. Louis where our initiative began. We started Operation Playground in Bay St. Louis back in 2005 with our first build and we’re returning there for build #100 at Martin Luther King Jr., Park. I’ve seen the plans and it’s going to be an amazing build. Not just because we’re creating another great place for kids to play, but because of the folks who will be in attendance. Among the group of outstanding volunteers will be Aisha Calderon, Ginny Reynolds, Linda Prout and Russell Dobbins. Aisha will be making the six-hour drive from Houston after working with KaBOOM! at a build last November, while Ginny helped plan our very first Operation Playground build in Bay St. Louis. Linda and Russell are battling it out for bragging rights as this will be Linda’s 17th KaBOOM! build and Russell’s 16th build!

Good Morning America plans to film the build day and grand opening and then air a story on Tuesday. I hope you’ll tune in to see this KaBOOM! milestone on national television as we celebrate the initiative that’s served thousands of children from Houston to Mobile. Even though we’ve reached a significant achievement, we will continue to build playgrounds in the Gulf going forward and have projects scheduled in the Gulf through December.

More exciting news will follow Tuesday evening in Washington D.C. On behalf of KaBOOM!, I’ll be accepting the national Jefferson Award for Public Service for outstanding Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged. I am truly honored to know that KaBOOM! will now stand alongside the likes of individuals such as Thurgood Marshall, Rosalyn Carter, Bill and Melinda Gates, Lance Armstrong, Marian Wright Edelman, Barbara Bush, Sandra Day O’Connor, Millard Fuller, Colin Powell and many distinguished others.

Both of these upcoming events are testaments to the tremendous accomplishments that we’ve achieved together. On behalf of everyone at KaBOOM!, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the work you’ve done to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.

In play,

Darell Hammond
CEO and Co-Founder