If you’ve always wanted to volunteer and make our neighborhood a better place, here’s an easy way to do it. We need 75 volunteers from Church Hill to help build the children’s new playground at Chimborazo Park on Thursday, Sept. 10.  You don’t have to be handy with a hammer to help.  Learn about volunteer opportunities, playground design and how you can help at the next Friends of Chimborazo Playground Community meeting:

Monday, August 10, 7pm
East District Center
701 N. 25th Street

Agenda:

• Call for neighborhood volunteers – need 75 volunteers from Church Hill, including build captains, to make help build the new playground.
• KaBoom! playground design

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Two new bat houses were installed at Chimborazo Park yesterday. Bats are one of nature’s most efficient and eco-friendly methods of keeping mosquito populations under control. Just one bat can eat more than 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. Mosquitoes breed in the neighboring ravine, where there is a lot of standing water. Hopefully, the new residents will help control the pests naturally, and eliminate the need for harsh chemical repellants. The bat houses are made possible by a generous grant from the Church Hill Association.

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On July 16, kids and adults from all over the community gathered at Asbury United Methodist Church for “Design Day.” Armed with crayons, 21 kids drew pictures of their “dream” playgrounds, which included slides, monkey bars, jungle gyms, even hair salons and ice cream shops! 24 adults brought food and started the planning work. It was a major stepping stone on the way to transforming our playground and building bridges in our community.

Friends of Chimborazo Playground was recently awarded a grant to build a new play space and community gardens by KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to empowering communities to build playgrounds. The project will be largely funded by the Home Depot and supported by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Thanks to everyone, especially the Reverend Heckstall, of Asbury United Methodist Church, for making the evening possible.

Photos courtesy of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities

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Join us this Thursday, July 16 for the KaBoom! Design Day. It’s a chance for kids and adults to collaborate and design the playground and potential side projects.

Asbury United Methodist Church
324 N 29th St  (corner of 29th & E. Marshall)
4pm – Kids design playground
5pm – Dinner!
5:30pm – Adults work with KaBoom project team to turn kids designs into reality.

Dinner is potluck, so bring a dish if you’re able.  If you’re interested in the project, but not into design per se, you can still help out with the kids, coordinating dinner, etc.

Send an email if you’re interested in attending, or contact us for more information: shawn@imaginechimbo.org.

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Community Meeting for Chimborazo Playground
Monday, July 13 at 7pm
East District Center
701 N. 25th Street

Agenda:

• Friends of Chimborazo Playground win Kaboom grant for new playground
• How you can help
• Ongoing plans for community gardens

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The Friends of Chimborazo Playground completed the grant process and was selected for a KaBOOM! playground today. The funding partner will be the Home Depot. We’re very grateful to Amy Beem, Home Depot store manager and a Church Hill resident, for recommending us to KaBOOM!

How It Works
KaBOOM is a national nonprofit organization that works with communities and funding partners to build playgrounds. The funding partner covers more than 70% of the project costs. A small portion of playground equipment costs will be paid by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Facilities. The community (that’s us!) provides volunteers, food, and tools for the project. We need as many neighbors as possible to participate, especially parents. Here are the important dates (determined by KaBOOM and the funding partner):

• Design Day – Thursday, July 16, 4 – 8pm – From 4 – 5 pm, kids will get creative and draw pictures of their “dream playground”. We hope to have as many kids there as possible. At 5, parents and other community members will work with the KaBOOM team to turn dream into reality and design the playground, selecting equipment, and discussing side projects, like possible plantings/landscaping, etc. More details on food, location and babysitter help coming soon. Please try to be there if you can!
• Build Day – Wednesday, September 9 - Update: Moved to Thursday, September 10 – Mark your calendars! We need 75 volunteers from the community to help build the playground. Like an old-fashioned barn raising, the playground goes up in one day. Unfortunately, it’s a week day. So plan a vacation day if you’re able, or if you work for VCU, you may be eligible for up to 16 hours of community service time. Thanks to a few folks who’ve already signed up.  If you can be there, let us know.

We also need folks to help in other ways:

• recruit volunteers
• a youth leader – someone who can make thank you signs with kids, and help get kids involved in the project
• tool sleuth – someone who can help us locate and borrow hand tools for build day (no power tools allowed)
• fundraising
• food
• logistics
• public relations
• safety

Please help spread the word and pass on to anyone and everyone who may be interested. See you at Chimborazo!

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The Friends of Chimborazo Playground have submitted a partnership application to KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization that empowers communities to build playgrounds. We’ve been working closely with the Department of Parks, Recreation & Facilities and the Richmond Recreation and Parks Foundation throughout the grant process. We’ve made it to Round 2 in the application process! If we’re fortunate enough to become a KaBOOM! partner, we’ll have the opportunity to design and build our own playground with new equipment. The application process is moving quickly. If we are successful in the bid, here are some upcoming dates to remember:

• July 9 – Design Day, 4pm – All children in the community will have the opportunity to design their “Dream Playground.” Kids will get to draw pictures of what their ideal playground will look like. Afterwards, parents and other community members will meet to turn their pictures into reality. Working the KaBOOM! project manager, we’ll work to design a playground that’s accessible and incorporates as many of the features the kids have requested as possible.
• Sept 10 – Build Day – We need 75 volunteers from our community to help build the playground. It’s like an old-fashioned barn raising, and the play equipment goes up in one day.

We need your help! We need as many volunteers on Build Day, Design Day and on the planning committee as possible. If you’re interested, contact Shawn.

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The Church Hill Association membership voted tonight to fund the Friends of Chimborazo Playground $5,000 to make improvements to the Chimborazo playground and recreational area. Items in the grant request include: two CHAT-built picnic tables; two barbecue stands; a garden shed; a purple martin house; a bat house; and three triangular shade sails. We are grateful to the Church Hill Association for their support!

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The Dept of Parks, Rec & Facilities today said that all capital improvement projects (such as renovations to Chimborazo Park Playground) have been significantly reduced (not entirely cut) from the mayor’s budget (2009-2013). The Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Facilities said they will be operating on a bare-bones budget that will cover only minor facilities maintenance and repair. Obviously, it’s a tough economic environment and everyone is experiencing major cutbacks as the mayor re-prioritizes the city’s needs.

The good news: Some previously appropriated funds remain. We can use these funds for site demolition, regrading, engineering, and very scaled-back renovation. As a community, we need to meet again and decide what we want. There’s still a lot of room for creativity if we all pull together. But we’ll need your help!

How can I help? Attend the next CHA meeting next Tuesday, April 21 at 7pm, at the Asbury Methodist Church, corner of 29th and Marshall. In February, we asked for a CHA grant of $5,485 for

• new picnic tables built by CHAT
• shade sails
• a garden shed
• BBQ stands
• bird/bat houses

It passed, but due to a technicality, the vote was made null and void and must go up for vote again. Because city funding is tight, we need to rely on fundraising and generous grants like this more than ever. So, please attend!  Become a CHA member or renew your membership and make your vote count. It’s an easy way to help improve our neighborhood and get involved.

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