Volunteers from the community, the Community Foundation and Freedom Park Committee Members joined forces on Saturday, October 24 to build a playground in the Valley View community. The new playground’s design is based on input provided by Valley View Elementary School children and their families.
Thank you to the hard working volunteers who made the playground at Freedom Park come alive – Keith and Cathy Barrett, Glen Stapleton, Dustin Pell, Christopher Rogers, Mark Cameron, Jamie Gladson, Sam Patel, Jeremy Jones, Scott Humberd, Ryan Wampler and not pictured Philip Shippey, Troy and Chrissy George and Steve Wyatt.
The playground build is made possible by a Bradley County HCI Grant, a program of Bradley County Government and a Let’s Play Community Construction Grant, an initiative by Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP).
“Valley View Elementary School is excited about the development of Freedom Park and cannot wait until its completion.” said Jeremy Jones, Principal, Valley View Elementary. “The new playground and the nature playpockets will provide our students with additional opportunities for outdoor physical activities and environmental education.”
Freedom Park is a project fund of the Community Foundation of Cleveland and Bradley County with the objective to bring publicly accessible park and recreation space to a community that is greatly in need of such amenities. The park ultimately will include a pavilion/outdoor classroom with restrooms; a playground; a nature exploration area with native and fruiting plants and nature-themed play pockets and enhancements to the existing walking track.
Bradley County Government and the Bradley County Bradley County’s Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Committee awarded the Community Foundation of Cleveland and Bradley County a grant to help fund the playground equipment and to help kids and families make active play and healthy behaviors a daily priority.
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) and the national non-profit KaBOOM! awarded The Community Foundation of Cleveland and Bradley County a Let’s Play Community Construction Grant to help to build the playground at Freedom Park and give Bradley County kids a place to learn, explore, grow and just be kids.
Tennessee is fifteenth in the nation in adult obesity and twentieth in the nation in childhood obesity. According to Bradley County Health Department statistics, the childhood obesity rate in the county is 39%. Therefore, providing adequate park and recreation space is essential to help improve the overall health of this community. Additionally, recreation space brings people together. The presence of park or playground allows children to play with others rather than the current trend of homebound inactivity. Families have a place where they can be active together thus creating healthy lifestyles and reducing health risks. Freedom Park will provide a place for the entire community to gather and participate in activities to promote health and wellness. This practice helps to develop lifelong habits of activity, thus reducing obesity rates for both children and adults.
