In Recognition of the National Day of Service, Play Mart Suggests a Year of Service

After getting an email recently from the National Recreation and Park Association, of which Play Mart is a member, regarding President-elect Obama's service initiative, USASERVICE.ORG, we here at Play Mart got together to see how we could get involved. Coupling Play Mart's passions for play and service, we felt that this initiative would be a perfect fit for us to get kids playing and help channel good works back into our communities.

So we have come up with a list of suggested service projects for our friends, customers and Play Mart family to consider this year, rather than during just one day. This year, you ask? This year. Why? Because as this blog is being written, the mercury shows 15 degrees Fahrenheit, and we're situated far enough south that we don't often get this cold! So unless you're fortunate enough to be reading this from sunny Hawaii, you might want to gather the troops now for a service project this Spring or Summer when the thermometer is a little higher up the scale!

The following is only a brief list of suggestions for you and your friends to consider. Your only limitation is your imagination. Give us some feedback as your ideas blossom into action this Spring!

Surfacing. Why not rake, sift, clean and refill your local playground's safety surfacing? It's relatively inexpensive and can really make a difference in the safety of your playground. If needed, Play Mart can supply you with the right kind of surfacing for a great price.

Removal of graffiti is another relatively simple, but impactful way to sustain both the look and longevity of your local playground. Take pictures of the before and after and share them with us!

Borders. Borders are a crucial component of your playground's overall safety. Borders help contain the safety surfacing within the necessary area; thereby reducing the need for frequent refills. If your borders are damaged or missing, contact Play Mart for more information on playground borders.

Repairs. Make a list of needed playground repairs and submit them to your city/county council. You might even offer to organize a fundraiser to pay for repairs beyond the abilities of your volunteers.

A New Playground. Have a fundraiser to buy new playground equipment, either for your neighborhood, an underprivileged neighborhood or even a local shelter. Contact Play Mart for great fundraising ideas.

Day of Play. Organize a day of play for the community or neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors by reaching out to them with play. Why not organize such a play day for underprivileged children? Have a "carnival" with food, games and prizes. Many local businesses would love to sponsor such an event for exposure and contribution to the community.

Community Contest. How about a community contest between local schools to help raise monies for a neighborhood playground? Nothing can generate contributions and excitement like a little healthy competition!

These are just a few suggestions. Get creative. Get excited. Get out of your box. Get out and play. But most importantly, get out and serve!

New Video! From Milk Jugs to Playgrounds

Play Mart has recently produced a short (4:26) video that explains our manufacturing process: taking milk jugs (#2 HDPE post-industrial plastic) and using them to create innovative recycled commercial playground equipment.

This video is a great teaching tool, whether it is used in the classroom or the boardroom. Produced from a kid's point of view, students and business professionals alike will be able to appreciate Play Mart's commitment to producing a world-class, environmentally friendly product: a product that diverted nearly one million pounds of plastic from landfills in 2007.

If you think this video would be a helpful tool in your classroom, boardroom or whatever room, we invite you to contact us at (800) 43-PLAYS (437-5297) for your complimentary DVD. Once you have viewed our story, please let us know how we can help you put recovered milk jugs to work at a playground near you!

And we want to hear from you! Tell us what you think about our new video! We'll be showing it to people all over the country this fall at trade shows in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas, Las Vegas and Boston. More importantly, we're glad you had a chance to get this first look at our process online, from wherever you are!

Play Mart: Recovering yesterday's plastic for today's play