Africa Gets A Northbrook Playground

The Northbrook Park District has donated the old playground from Crestwood Park to an orphanage in Uganda, Africa. This is the second playground Northbrook has sent overseas.

The playground was installed in Crestwood Park in 1999 and scheduled for replacement in 2013. The Park District wanted to donate the structure, so officials reached out to Kids Around the World, a non-profit organization that repairs and recycles playgrounds and installs them in underprivileged areas.

Beginning in April, volunteers dismantled the playground, made repairs, packed the pieces in crates and shipped them to Uganda. Last week, workers finished putting the pieces back together at Watoto Children’s Village.

“The children will be so happy for your generous donation,” wrote Tim Clauson, International Playground Director of Kids Around the World, in an email to the park district. 

In 2006, the wooden playground from Village Green Park was installed in Vanadzor, Armenia. The play components were used to build three structures for the community, which didn't have a playground before then.

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