200 Community Volunteers Join Forces to Build a New Playground at Common Ground Montgomery

WHAT:
Volunteers from Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), Common Ground Montgomery, and the community will join KaBOOM! on Saturday, June 9, to transform an empty site into a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground in just six hours at Common Ground Montgomery.
· DPS business partner Montgomery Coca-Cola Bottling is also supporting the project.
· The playground build is made possible by Let’s Play, an initiative by DPS to provide the funding, equipment and play spaces to help kids and families make active play a daily priority, and its non-profit partner KaBOOM!.
· The build will culminate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the newly built playground and making more play the easy choice for kids and families in Montgomery.

WHY:
Play is important to children’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual development, but research shows kids are becoming more sedentary and not getting the activity they need.
· According to research from the CDC, healthy lifestyle habits formed through play, including physical activity, can lower the risk of obesity and its associated health issues.
· Through Let’s Play, DPS and its partners are committed to helping create safe and inspiring PLAYces for Montgomery kids to learn, explore, grow and just be kids.

WHO:
Representatives available for interviews:
· Bryan Kelly, Founder, Common Ground Montgomery
· Justin Hampton, Executive Director, Common Ground Montgomery
· Kevin King, Associate Director, Common Ground Montgomery
· Matt Flurry, Sales Center Manager, Montgomery Coca-Cola
· John Kanipe, Regional Sales Manager, Dr Pepper Snapple Group

WHEN:
Saturday, June 9 (Times approximate)
· 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Kick-Off Ceremony
· 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Playground Construction (best viewing between 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.)
· 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

WHERE:
Common Ground Montgomery
1516 Mobile Road
Montgomery, AL 36108

You can sign up to volunteer here: https://www.tfaforms.com/4673950

About Let’s Play

Let’s Play is an initiative by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to provide the funding, equipment and play spaces to help kids and families make active play a daily priority. Through Let’s Play, Dr Pepper Snapple partners with two non-profit organizations, KaBOOM! and Good Sports, to build and improve playgrounds in communities and provide grants for sports equipment. In this way, Dr Pepper Snapple is doing our part to help eliminate the play deficit by making active play possible for more kids. Since its launch in 2011, Let’s Play has provided more than 11 million children with more opportunities to play via safe, accessible playgrounds and sports equipment. For more information, please visit LetsPlay.com or Facebook.com/LetsPlay.

About Common Ground Montgomery

Common Ground Montgomery is a non-profit, community development organization located in Montgomery, Alabama. The mission of CGM is to revitalize the Washington Park community. Started in 2006, CGM is a non-denominational Christian ministry that focuses on youth development and leadership, after school programs and camps, mentoring, cross-cultural relationships and racial reconciliation. CGM has spun off one community initiative, a housing renovation and adult financial literacy organization, that has become its own non-profit. CGM’s most recent initiative is focused on providing food, a clothes closet, showers, and clothes washing capabilities to families and individuals in need. Find us online at www.cgm.life, or @cgmlife on Facebook, Instragram, and Twitter.

About Montgomery Coca-Cola Bottling

Montgomery Coca-Cola is the sales, distribution and production operations arm for Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, which was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The Company, which has operations in seven southeastern states, is engaged in the production, sales and distribution of a diverse portfolio of sparkling (Coca-Cola, diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Dr Pepper) and still (Dasani, Smartwater, Powerade, Gold Peak, Monster, Minute Maid) non-alcoholic brands under exclusive franchise agreements principally with The Coca-Cola Company and The Dr Pepper Company. Montgomery Coca-Cola has approximately 500 associates and serves retail and On Premise customers throughout the River Region.

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 restore more than 17,000 playspaces, engaged more than 1.5 million volunteers and served over 9 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