SACRAMENTO—Residents were invited to build a playground in less than a day last weekend in Sacramento.
Mission accomplished.
Some 70 PG&E employees, friends and families help build a playground in less than six hours. (Photos by John Agpoon.)
PG&E partnered with the national nonprofit Kaboom! on Saturday (Oct. 6) to construct the playground in just six hours at the Salvation Army’s E. Claire Raley Transitional Living Complex, which provides temporary housing for families recovering from homelessness.
Scott Sanford, PG&E’s senior director of contact center operations, welcomed the hundreds of volunteers, including about 70 PG&E employees, friends and family. He thanked them for their commitment and contribution to helping the community.
Then it was down to work. The playground features a rock wall, triple slide, monkey bars and a full asphalt mural of the United States.
The Sacramento project was just the latest in the utility’s program to build playgrounds in at-risk and underserved areas in PG&E’s territory. The purpose for PG&E’s involvement is to create access for children to play, creating healthier, happier youngsters who perform better in school.
A full asphalt mural of the United States is among the features of the new playground.
In less than two years, PG&E also has worked with Kaboom! to build playgrounds in Fresno, Oceano, Santa Rosa and Eureka. Plans are in the works for a playground in Bakersfield later this fall.
Like the previous builds, children helped design the new playground.
The Sacramento build was the first of the playgrounds built in collaboration with the Salvation Army, a longtime PG&E partner, to provide emergency energy assistance for customers in jeopardy of losing their electricity services.
“It was especially impactful in today’s economic climate to have the opportunity to work with the Salvation Army,” said Amanda Tutera, project manager of PG&E Playgrounds. “This playground gave us the opportunity to give back to the families they directly serve. We’re proud to support the residents of E. Claire Raley in their own road to employment and financial stability.”
Email Currents at currents@pge.com.
