Lakes Region Community Developers (LRCD) was recently awarded a $15,000 grant from Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and national non-profit KaBOOM!, which is an organization that helps build playspaces for low-income children across the country. It was also awarded a $10,000 grant in February 2018 from the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction to support this project.  Lakes Region Community Developers is under the clock with a need to raise $5,000 by June 30, 2018 to match the grant so LRCD can make this playground dream a reality.
In case you aren’t familiar with the LRCD organization, we have developed high-quality, affordable rental housing for working families throughout the Lakes Region for the past 25 years.
The playground will be built at our Lochmere Meadows development in Tilton.  Forty-seven families live at Lochmere Meadows, which is just off Route 3 near the Lochmere Country Club. The tenants at Lochmere are mostly working families with young children. They work in retail, food service, health care, early childhood education, and automotive services. We are proud to provide healthy housing for these working families at a price they can afford.  

Why does play matter for these families? Only one in four kids in the US are getting the recommended one hour of daily physical activity. Children are not playing at home, they are not playing in schools, and they are not playing in their communities.
Play is an equity issue, too. For the 14 million kids living in poverty, play is too hard to come. They don’t have access to safe play spaces, under-resourced schools cut recess and physical education, and kids spend too much time in front of screens.
There is currently no designated outdoor playspace for the 50 young children who live at Lochmere. This part of Tilton is not pedestrian-friendly, nor does it offer any public playspaces for kids. A playground is something that Lochmere families have been asking for so they can get outside and be more active.
Please help give 50 young children a safe place to play by making a donation, go to LRCommunityDeveopers.org today.