SEGA OF AMERICA®, YOUTH UPRISING AND KaBOOM! BUILD PLAYGROUND IN ONE DAY FOR OAKLAND CHILDREN IN CELEBRATION OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG’S 20th ANNIVERSARY. Full details after the jump.
WHAT: More than 200 volunteers from Sega of America® and Youth UpRising, along with organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the Oakland community, will join forces to build a new playground for the children of East Oakland in just one day. The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by the children of the community center and is inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog in honor of his 20th Anniversary and the release of the Sonic Generations video game (Xbox 360®/PlayStation®3, Nov. 1st and Nintendo 3DS™, Nov.22nd).
WHEN: Friday, October 28
9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Kick-off ceremony and volunteer deployment with Sonic the Hedgehog
Noon to 2:00 p.m. Best viewing of playground construction
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Final construction phase and adjustments
3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate new play area with Sonic the Hedgehog
(Note: all times approximate)
WHERE:
Youth UpRising
8711 MacArthur Blvd
Oakland, CA 94605
WHO:
Sonic the Hedgehog
SEGA of America executives
Oakland Deputy Mayor Sharon Cornu
Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Nate Miley
Hundreds of volunteers from the community
VISUALS: Before and after shots of the site
Volunteers assembling brightly colored playground equipment
Volunteers moving 39,204 square feet of safety surfacing by hand
Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground
Sonic the Hedgehog with the volunteers
Sega of America
About SEGA® of America, Inc.: SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment. SEGA of America’s Web site is located at www.sega.com
KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
