Kids at James T. Anderson Boys & Girls Club in Marietta, Georgia are celebrating as a newly built playground opened. The months-long collaboration between Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Kellogg Company, and KABOOM! culminated last week as more than 100 volunteers installed the new playspace, which will offer over 200 kids and teens a high-quality, safe place to play that is close to where they live and learn.
The base design for the new playground came from 21-year-old Morgan Slone, an avid Minecraft player whose mushroom-inspired design won Kellogg’s Build for Better contest earlier this year which challenged consumers who purchased participating products – including iconic foods such as Kellogg’s® Frosted Flakes, Eggo and Cheez-It – to design the playground of their dreams on Minecraft. Her design was chosen from a total of 642 submissions that were judged based on their creativity, inclusivity, practicality for being built and appropriateness for all ages.
With Morgan’s winning design as a blueprint, adult community members and kids had an opportunity to guide the final design of the playground during a Design Day in September. The new playground incorporates elements from drawings of their dream playspaces and will provide over 200 kids and their families with a new place to get active, build social bonds, and gather as a community.
“At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, our mission is to create safe, inclusive, and engaging environments for every young person at our Club,” said President & CEO David Jernigan. “We are elated to partner with Kellogg and KABOOM! on this amazing playspace at our James T. Anderson Boys & Girls Club to provide a safe environment that promotes our core value of healthy lifestyles by getting our members outside and engaged in physical activity.”
Play is essential to the physical, social, and emotional health of every child. However, historic disinvestment and exclusion caused by systemic racism have denied generations of children equitable access to parks and playgrounds, disproportionately affecting communities of color. The new playground at James T. Anderson Boys & Girls Club , designed with the neighborhood’s unique needs and aspirations in mind, brings Marietta one step closer toward ending playspace inequity and ensuring that every kid can experience the joys of childhood.
“Playgrounds are an iconic part of childhood. They’re not only where kids collect some of their best memories, but also where crucial skills are developed that nurture their physical, mental, and emotional well-being,” said Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!. “KABOOM! is thrilled to work with our partners to bring to life the new playspace at James T. Anderson Boys & Girls Club and ensure that kids in Marietta have a safe place designed just for them, where they can play, learn, and unlock their greatest potential.”
Kellogg provided support for the new playground through its partnership with KABOOM! as part of its Kellogg’s Better Days Promise global environment, social and governance (ESG) strategy to advance sustainable and equitable access to food and create better days for three billion people by the end of 2030.
“We’re incredibly inspired by the creativity of our consumers and humbled to be able to build this playground and create better days for the James T. Anderson Boys & Girls Club,” said Julie Bowerman, Chief Marketing Officer, North America at Kellogg Company. “At Kellogg, we believe our delicious foods are building blocks for meaningful moments together. That’s why our partnership with Minecraft—a game in which players work together to build things with blocks—to bring a digital playground to life with KABOOM! makes so much sense.”
