KABOOM RAISE 100K FOR CHARITY

I think this is a cause that is worthy of Praise. The good folks at Mom Central and Kaboom wanted me to spread the word. Here is some information from http://playspacefinder.kaboom.org/teams/2761-momcentral and www.momcentral.com

KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding and creating play spaces within walking distance for every child, has embarked on a nationwide mission to help communities build playspaces. This proves critical for those many children living in neighborhoods without playgrounds or playspaces, or unable to use existing ones because of rundown conditions or dangerous neighborhoods.

Innumerable times, the local playground became a haven for me when my little kids were bouncing off the walls at home. Fresh air and a safe, fun area where kids could let loose and release all of their boundless energy often proved a sanity saver! KaBOOM! believes that play has a purpose and unstructured play in particular helps make children happier, fitter, smarter, more socially adept and creative. So how can we help make this a reality for kids in less fortunate neighborhoods?

Mom Central has teamed up with KaBOOM! to help map online 100,000 playspaces in 100 days. Here's what counts as a playspace: a playground, field, a skate park, roller hockey rink, lake, dog park, community center, basketball court or ice rink - any place where kids can engage in unstructured play for free or a nominal fee. A playspace listing on KaBOOM! consists of an address or cross street and a description, one photo and one rating.

KaBOOM! has made creating this playspace listing easy: either a quick fill-in on their website or even easier - a twitpic from your cellphone.

For every play space entered into the KaBOOM! database on behalf of the Mom Central team, $1 will be donated to Jumpstart, a non-profit that brings at-risk preschool children and caring adults together to improve literacy. It's something to feel doubly good about!

Moreover, we all stand to benefit as all the playspaces with their photos and ratings will be available to us as we go on road trips this spring and summer, to visit relatives, or on vacation. You can go online and find cool places to take your kids to play- near Grandma's, the hotel, or off the highway to break up a long drive.