On August, 15, several Associated Bank colleagues participated in a “Playground Build Day” hosted by KaBoom!, the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee and the Brewers Community Foundation.

In just six hours, Associated Bank volunteers along with Brewers team members built a new playground that offers a safe place for children to play, an exciting atmosphere for youth development, and promotes healthy living and social responsibility in our community.

“We had 25 colleagues volunteer their time to assist in building the playground, help prepare and serve food for the volunteers or help coordinate kids’ activities throughout the day,” said Kara Barillas, assistant vice president, talent acquisition consultant, Associated Bank. “As a Young Professional community involvement committee member we strive to find opportunities where we can partner with local organizations to help our community.”

The new playground design, based on drawings created by children, will give more than 1,200 children in the community a safe place to play. KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving kids the childhood they deserve by bringing play to those who need it most. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. Social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! in 1996 in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America because children need to play actively every day at home, in school and in their communities. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 90,000 places to play, built more than 2,300 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.