Old McKinney playgrounds spark new joy in developing countries
McKINNEY (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Let a kid loose in a playground and they know just what to do.
"Kids love to get up in the air," said McKinney Parks and Recreation Director, Michael Kowski. "The more adventurous you are, the higher you go."
Part of Kowski's job is creating spaces for the city's smallest residents to explore and enjoy.
When it came time to update Fitzhugh Park several years ago, though, he didn't want to toss the old play structures in the trash.
"Instead of sending old playground equipment to the landfill, we're trying to repurpose it around the world," said Kowski.
The city teamed up with a non-profit called Project Playground to take the equipment apart, refurbish it, and ship it overseas to a school in Zambia.
"We build playgrounds for people who've never seen one," said Matt Clayton, who founded Project Playground with his wife. "In Zambia, where the McKinney park went to, we were camping for five days with no running water."
As the community there eagerly waited, the organization's workers re-assembled the swings and the slides. Then, they watched the children take over.
Hundreds of them crowded the playground, filling it with the sound of fun.
"It's like this magical moment. I get teary eyed just thinking about it," said Clayton. "It is - it's insane. I mean it's just the laughter."
In area where children walk as much as two hours to school each day, the principal says he hardly sees anyone absent anymore.
"School children come earlier than usual to school just to have more time to play," wrote Mr. Matina from the Nakowa Primary and Secondary School.
Images of his students enjoying a playground for the first time has spread joy all the way back to McKinney.
"We recognized every bit of equipment in that video," said Kowski. "It made our hearts swell. It was fantastic."
McKinney has now donated structures to Project Playground from six more recently updated parks: Hilltop, Eubanks, McKissick, Finch, WB Finney, and Serenity parks.
They'll soon be headed to Botswana, Rawanda, Romania, and other locations, where kids need a place to play.
"It really is our passion to bring joy and play to the whole world. We have our great little piece of the universe here in McKinney, and if we can expand that to the rest of the world, let's do it."
Besides being environmentally friendly, the donation also makes financial sense.
Project Playground, Clayton said, takes care of dismantling playground and hauling them away, saving cities the money they'd otherwise spend on demolition.
