SW Playground Project

This was very encouraging. I think with our wonderful group and resources, we can actually see our vision come to fruition!

The KaBoom Toolkit has great information. I particularly appreciated the fundraising ideas, and will consider asking our group to do a "Play Booth" during DC's upcoming Cherry Blossom Parade.

With our Amidon Elementary School "Name the Playground" Contest, we asked the students to draw a picture of what their ideal playground would look like, and then name it. The submissions are in, and we are ready to judge them, with our guest judge, the Honorable Councilmember Tommy Wells (Ward 6)!

We are pleased with the equipment offered by PlayWorld Systems. It also makes for a good fit for us, as DC Parks and Rec. has worked with them in the past, so we are assured that there were be no problems on Build Day.

Hey Everyone, I just wanted to congratulate the SW Library Playground Project on it's great work thus far! We are organized, have created our promotional materials, have established our bank and Paypal accounts (thanks to the Community Benefits Coordinating Council, our 501(c)(3) sponsor), and have started our corporate fundraising efforts. We have also made contacts and are frequently communicating with DC Parks and Recreation to ensure we meet all necessary standards and criteria. That is ALOT with less than two months under our belts! For those of you who have joined us but aren't yet active, we still need your share. We are in the design/layout process, and could use your input, as well as helping us spread the word through the SW Community. Please send an email to: SWPlaygroundproject@gmail.com to get involved. Keep up the wonderful work! Felicia Project Manager

A Twitter account has been set up for the SW Library Playground Project. Follow it here: http://twitter.com/SWLPlayground

If you have not already done so, PLEASE send me your full email address so that I can create a listserve for ease of communications (Kaboom does not allow me to send a mass email to those who have joined this project, and I can only view your screen name when do send msgs.) Thanks! Felicia aka "fee4play" feliciacouts@yahoo.com

Please feel free to add to this brainstorming list: Mayor DC Parks and Recreation Ward 6 Councilmember and staff DCPS DC Fire & Rescue All SW parents of children 2-12 All SW neighborhood churches, synagogues, and other places of worship Amidon Elementary School Jefferson Middle School All vendors along 4th and G Streets SW NASA Arena Stage developers Capitol Riverfront developers McDonald's 7-Eleven Store Southwest Fisherman's Wharf businesses Post Office (for bulk mailings) Local media venues (Southwester, Hill Rag, etc., television, radio)

Please see the proposed fundraising approach under "Files" submitted by Eve Brooks and Melissa Rohan, chairs of the fundraising committee. This is the biggest hurdle for our group to overcome -- raising the money we need to build our playground. So please provide any ideas, contacts, or resources you may have.

Agenda: To create teams and assign tasks to meet our mile markers. Please email feliciacouts@yahoo.com to RSVP. We are hoping to obtain the multipurpose room on the lower level of the libraray for this meeting. Will confirm as soon as possible.

Dear Members, This Saturday at 11 am, there will be a clean up of the "Duck Pond". In conjunction with this effort, we thought it would be a good idea for us to clean up the SW Library park. The Duck Pond folks have offered to share their equipment with us (a leaf blower, a leaf mulcher, and a few rakes). But please do bring a rake with you if you have one. We expect it should only take about an hour and a half. Also, the Friends of SW Library will be having it's book fair at the same time. As our group will work closely with them as we plan the new playground, we encourage you to consider supporting and joining them with a donation of $10. Please rsvp to janejorgensen@verizon.net or me at feliciacouts@yahoo.com. (My apologies for the short notice, but we hope you can make it). Felicia

The Friends of SW Library Playground dreams of placing specially-designed and unique pieces of play equipment in the wonderfully-shaded areas beside our library. The pieces will build physical and social skills, while promoting exploration for young minds.