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NASCAR Driver
Helps Build New School Playground
Jackie
Igafo-Te'o, Bridges4Kids, June 20, 2005
Photos
courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing
For more articles like this
visit
http://www.bridges4kids.org.
 NASCAR drivers are really doing some great things for kids this
year! Thursday, things were buzzing a block from my house here
in Jackson, Michigan. Police cars blocked street entrances and
cars were lined up bumper to bumper parked for blocks all
around. Satellites were uplinked to ESPN, local stations and
everywhere else, it seemed. What was going on in our quiet
little south Jackson neighborhood? NASCAR Driver Tony Stewart's
Team, along with The Home Depot and KaBOOM!, were building a new
$40,000 racing-themed playground at my children's school!
 The
"Race to Play" program targets organizations that serve
children, including those that support at-risk youth and provide
positive after-school and learning environments, by building
racing-themed playgrounds in NASCAR communities. Jackson
Arts & Technology Academy was chosen because of its location and
its dedication to at-risk students. Only 10 schools in the U.S.
were chosen for this project.
Hundreds of
volunteers turned out to participated in the one-day playground
build. You can find out more about the "Race to Play"
program from Home Depot and KaBOOM! at
http://www.homedepotracing.com/racingtoplay/main.html or
http://www.joegibbsracing.com/season_2005/news_cup/06_june/050601_ts_miskaboom.php.
 KaBOOM!
Playground Build Kick-off this Thursday in Jackson, Mich.
FoxSports.com
The Home Depot, in partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing and the
national non-profit organization KaBOOM!, will kick-off their
philanthropic initiative "Racing to Play" on Thurs., June 16 at
the Jackson Arts & Technology Academy in Jackson, Mich.
Volunteers and Joe Gibbs Racing team members, including Stewart
and crew chief Greg Zipadelli, will build the first of 10
NASCAR-themed playgrounds for at-risk youth in NASCAR race
communities. The "Racing to Play" program will identify and work
with 10 organizations in select race markets to build
NASCAR-themed KaBOOM! playgrounds in a single day at the
organization's site. The program will target organizations that
serve children, including those that support at-risk youth and
provide positive after-school and learning environments. After
the Jackson build is complete, the next two builds are scheduled
for the Daytona Beach Housing Authority (June 30, Daytona Beach,
Fla.) and the Carol Murphy Center (July 7, Markham, Ill.). Sites
are still being determined for the seven remaining build
markets: Indianapolis; Fontana, Calif.; Richmond, Va.;
Talladega, Ala.; Kansas City, Kan.; Atlanta; and Phoenix.
 Nascar
Driver Lends Hand to Help Build New Playground in Jackson
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/1642491.html
Lori Dougovito, WILX News, June 16, 2005
How about a
brand new playground built in one day, free of charge? And how
about Nascar's 20 car driver Tony Stewart on hand to help?
Sounds too good to be true, but it actually happened Thursday in
Jackson at the Jackson Arts and Technology Academy.
It's part of a national program called Racing to Play. The goal
is to build 10 playgrounds in Nascar communities across the
country this year. The builds are sponsored by Home Depot and
the playground equipment is provided by the non-profit
organization KABOOM.
In addition to Tony Stewart, who's sponsored by Home Depot,
hundreds of volunteers from local Home Depot stores, the school
and the community came out to help. Jackson's playground was the
first of the 10 to be built.
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