Foresters Financial & KaBOOM! Celebrate Building 150 Playgrounds Together While Increasing Play Opportunities for Minneapolis...
September 22 2018 - 4:00PM
Business Wire
More Than 200 Community Volunteers Build
State-of-the-art Playground in Six Hours at Jenny Lind Elementary
School
The Minneapolis community was revitalized today thanks to a new
playground built at Jenny Lind Elementary School. In just six
hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters Financial™, Jenny
Lind Elementary School and the national non-profit KaBOOM! created
the new playspace, which will serve more than 1,300 children and
their families in the local community for years to come. Foresters
Financial also celebrated its 150th playground build with
KaBOOM!.
"For over 140 years Foresters Financial has focused on our
Purpose, which is to help families and strengthen communities,"
said Jim Boyle, President and CEO, Foresters Financial. “We’ve had
a special relationship with Jenny Lind Elementary for about five
years now, and being able to celebrate this milestone here is
exceptional.”
The design for the new playground is based on drawings created
by neighborhood children at a special Design Day event held in June
when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and
Foresters Financial to design their dream playground. The drawings
inspired the final playground design.
Since 2006, Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! have built 150
beautiful playspaces across 86 cities in 31 states and provinces
throughout North America. Thanks to the hard work of over 9,900
Foresters members, sales partners and guests for the last eleven
years, we are positively impacting the lives of more than 5 million
children by providing them with access to play. Through each new
playground, families are better able to spend quality time together
right in their own neighborhoods, playing alongside Foresters
members and community partners.
“This playground will create an innovative space for children
and families to engage in play together,” said Liz Corris,
Assistant Principal, Jenny Lind Elementary School. “Our school
community was deeply impacted by three high-profile and tragic
events this past summer. We are deeply hopeful that this playground
build will provide our community an opportunity to heal from these
incidents by coming together for the purpose of creating a safe
space for our children to play.”
Play is the business of childhood and is essential to the
physical, cognitive, creative, social and emotional development of
every kid. It’s how kids build strong muscles and healthy bodies;
it’s how they learn problem-solving, conflict resolution and
creativity; it’s how they make friends and build strong bonds with
adults. Play is critical to a kid’s ability to thrive.
Foresters Financial is a KaBOOM! Founding Partner and National
Partner. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to ensuring that
all kids get the balance and active play they need to thrive.
About Jenny Lind Elementary School
Jenny Lind Elementary School is a Minneapolis Public School
located in the Lind-Bohanon neighborhood of North Minneapolis. We
are a culturally rich community serving 450 students in
Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade. Our staff create and nurture a
supportive, student-centered learning community that promotes
personal empowerment, academic growth and social emotional
well-being for all.
About Foresters Financial
Foresters Financial™ is an international financial services
provider with more than three million clients and members in the
United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and total funds under
management of $45.1 billion1. With a history of more than 140
years, we provide life insurance, savings, retirement and
investment solutions that help families achieve their financial
goals, protect their families and improve their communities. For
more information, visit foresters.com.
Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks
of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society,
789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9) and its
subsidiaries.
Products offered vary by country. Not all products are available
for distribution in all jurisdictions. In the United States,
products are offered by The Independent Order of Foresters and its
subsidiaries, including Foresters Financial Services, Inc. a
registered broker-dealer. Securities, life insurance and annuity
products are offered through Foresters Financial Services, Inc. or
independent producers. Insurance products are issued by Foresters
Life Insurance and Annuity Company, New York, or The Independent
Order of Foresters. Investment advisory products and services are
offered through Foresters Advisory Services, LLC, a registered
investment adviser.
1 in Canadian dollars as of December 31, 2017
About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids
– especially those living in poverty – the childhood they deserve
through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to
make play the easy choice and works to drive the national
discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has
collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000
playspaces, engaged more than 1.5 million volunteers and served
over 9 million kids. To learn why play matters for all kids,
visit kaboom.org and join the conversation at
twitter.com/kaboom, facebook.com/kaboom and instagram.com/kaboom.
#playmatters #PLAYceforKids
414828F CAN/US (09/18)
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180922005004/en/
Jenny Lind Elementary SchoolElizabeth Corris,
612-668-2022Elizabeth.Corris@mpls.k12.mn.usorForesters
FinancialGreg Hubert, 416-429-3000 Ext:
4044ghubert@foresters.comorKaBOOM!Caroline Finnell,
202-464-6164cfinnell@kaboom.org