SANTA ROSA—Nearly 300 volunteers gathered at Roseland Elementary School on Saturday (Dec. 3) to build a playground in six hours.
The construction was part of a partnership with PG&E and Kaboom!, a non-profit that builds playgrounds around the country. The utility is donating about $200,000, the majority of the cost to build playgrounds over consecutive weekends this month in Santa Rosa, Oceano in San Luis Obispo County (Dec. 10) and in Fresno (Dec. 17).
In Santa Rosa, the volunteer work resulted in:
- A main playground, including a 9-foot slide, six swings and an 8-foot climbing wall
- Four benches
- Four arbors
- Two tree benches
- One double shade structure with lattice
- Three composting bins
- Six garden beds rehabilitated
David Kligman of Currents assembled this photo montage (click on the photo to start the slideshow). For more on the playground build, see this Currents video.
Santa Rosa is one of three cities getting a new playground, thanks to PG&E.
Assembling a playground requires a lot of elbow grease.
Volunteers mix cement to secure the playground structures.
Students gave input on the design, including this twisty slide.
Water bottles were provided to volunteers.
Youngsters helped out, including raking mulch.
Mothers of students worked long hours to prepare a burrito lunch.
The project also included building new garden boxes.
The playground will be open to everyone in the community.
One of the biggest feats was moving a giant climbing geodome.
Principal Dana Pedersen displays tape with artwork drawn by younger students for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Children await the closing ceremony.
PG&E’s Sarah Sasaki thanks everyone for their hard work.
This sign will be permanently displayed at the playground.
Jen Gallagher of Kaboom!, far left, leads volunteers in a cheer.
Young volunteers paint wood that will be used for a compost bin.
From left, PG&E’s Jen Lujan, Brandi Ehlers, Kelli Nevin and Geneve Villacres.
The playground was open to children on Wednesday, four days after the build.
