CONTACT:

Mercy Housing Lakefront: Brad Wilks, 312-815-5505, brad@wilksgrp
KaBOOM!: Tamara Grider, 202-464-6196, tgrider@kaboom.org

CHICAGO – Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) and the national non-profit KaBOOM! awarded Mercy Housing Lakefront a Let’s Play Community Construction Grant that will be used to provide new playground equipment for children at Marian Park Apartments in Wheaton, Illinois, an affordable housing community for low-income families and seniors.

The playground build is made possible by Let’s Play, an initiative by KDP to provide the funding, equipment and play spaces to help kids and families make active play a daily priority. Through Let’s Play, KDP and its partners are committed to helping create safe and inspiring PLAYces for kids to learn, explore, grow and just be kids.

“KaBOOM! and Let’s Play have really given residents at Marian Park Apartments the gift of play,” said Mark Angelini, President of Mercy Housing Lakefront. “Spaces for children are an important part of a community. We’re grateful to receive this grant and can’t wait to build our new playground.”

Mercy Housing Lakefront will use this grant to provide new playground equipment to replace current equipment, which is in disrepair and insufficient for the nearly 100 children at Marian Park Apartments. Located in Wheaton, Marian Park provides affordable housing with onsite supportive services for low-income families with children and for seniors. As a result of this grant, residents of Marian Park Apartments will have access to a high-quality and inviting play area, giving children access to important health and developmental play activities, parents peace of mind that their children have a welcoming area in which to play, and seniors the opportunity to observe and interact with youth.

KDP has committed $38.5 million to Let’s Play through 2019, impacting youth-serving organizations across the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Through Let’s Play, KDP partners with two non-profit organizations, KaBOOM! and Good Sports, to build and improve playgrounds in underserved communities and provide grants for sports equipment. In this way, KDP is doing its part to help eliminate the play deficit by making active play possible for more kids.

Visit Let’s Play at www.LetsPlay.com to join the conversation and learn how to apply for the various available grants to make communities more active and playful.

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About Mercy Housing Lakefront

Mercy Housing Lakefront (MHL), the Great Lakes Region’s largest nonprofit provider of service-enriched, affordable housing, is committed to creating affordable homes and inspiring dreams as we work with residents and partners to establish engaged, strong, and inclusive communities. MHL owns and operates 52 properties in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, serving more than 8,000 people annually. MHL is a regional branch of Mercy Housing, Inc. (MHI), a leading national affordable housing nonprofit headquartered in Denver. Please find additional information at www.mercyhousinglakefront.org.

 

About Let’s Play

Let’s Play is an initiative by Keurig Dr Pepper to provide the funding, equipment and play spaces to help kids and families make active play a daily priority. KDP partners with KaBOOM! to build and improve playgrounds and with Good Sports to provide sports equipment grants to kids that would otherwise not have access. Let’s Play has already provided more than 11 million kids new opportunities to play. With year-round grants available for new or improved playgrounds and sports equipment, Let’s Play helps kids achieve balanced, well-rounded lifestyles. For more information, please visit LetsPlay.com or Facebook.com/LetsPlay.

 

About KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids – especially those living in poverty – the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to make play the easy choice and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000 playspaces, engaged more than 1.5 million volunteers and served over 10 million kids. To learn why play matters for all kids, visit kaboom.org and join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom, facebook.com/kaboom and instagram.com/kaboom. #playmatters #PLAYceforKids