By Nicole Maristany
Combating childhood obesity is a hot topic across the country. From First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, to the NFL's "60 Minutes a Day" initiative, many are focused on helping our children lead healthier lives. And one of the best ways to get kids excited about exercise is to head out to the playground.
But what if you don't have one? That was the case for the children of Verde Gardens. And thanks to an initiative funded by Carrfour Supportive Housing, the Knight Foundation and KaBOOM!, they got the chance to design their picture perfect playground – and watch it come to life.
The community applied for grants with the Knight Foundation and KaBOOM!, a national organization dedicated to building playgrounds in neighborhoods that need them. So after all of the childrens' drawings were taken into consideration, volunteers started to build – more than 200 of them.
Everyone came out to support the community – volunteers from Carrfour Supportive Housing, the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, and even the Homestead Airforce Base. And the entire playground project took less than eight hours to complete.
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