JetBlue Loves Playtime! Boston's Largest Airline Teams Up With Partner KaBOOM! To Construct A Community Playground in Revere

BOSTON, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) is pleased to announce that it's teaming up with long-time partner KaBOOM! as well as with Revere Neighborhood Developers and the City of Revere to build its 11th playground this Saturday, Oct. 29 at Costa Park in Revere, Massachusetts. The playground build begins with a kickoff ceremony at 8:30 a.m. ET and the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 2:30 p.m.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110404/NY76997LOGO)

"We're honored to participate in building our 11th playground for the community of Revere," said JetBlue's Director Corporate Responsibility Icema Gibbs. "We recognize the importance of providing safe spaces for our kids to play and are excited about our ongoing efforts to support the communities in which we serve. We can't wait to break ground on the new playground this Saturday and look forward to the smiling faces when their new play area is complete."

"We're ecstatic about this partnership and excited to be working once again with an organization like JetBlue that is committed to addressing the play deficit among children," said KaBOOM! Founder and CEO Darell Hammond. "Every child deserves to have a great place to play and thanks to JetBlue, Revere Neighborhood Developers and the City of Revere, KaBOOM! will move one step closer to our vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America by building a terrific new playground."

"The playground at Costa Park is a model of what public, private and community partnerships can accomplish," said Executive Director of Revere Neighborhood Developers Ann Houston. "Residents asked for better, safer places for children to play, and the City of Revere responded. Great partners like JetBlue and KaBOOM! stepped up and made it possible for residents to build their own new playground."

"The creation of a great play space has been a key part of the long-term vision for revitalizing this neighborhood," said Revere City Planner Frank Stringi. "The City is pleased to welcome Jet Blue and KaBOOM! as partners in helping us realize that vision. Thanks to their energy and support, along with that of Revere Neighborhood Developers and an incredibly dedicated team of city workers and residents, the neighborhood is making great strides on Saturday."

Costa Park, the children's playground on Shirley Avenue just a few blocks from the Revere Beach T stop, is in need of revitalization. Recognizing this need, JetBlue is partnering with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play, and local residents to make the park a place where families, daycares, and schools can feel proud to bring their children to play. When complete, the new playground will provide a safe play space for 500 children. Crewmembers from JetBlue's station at Boston Logan International Airport, where the preferred airline operates almost 100 daily flights - more than any other carrier – will volunteer their efforts to help build a playground in just one day's time.

The playground will be the 11th built by KaBOOM! and JetBlue Airways in an effort to fight the play deficit and save play. The fun-loving airline has helped to build playgrounds in Washington D.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, Kissimmee and Orlando, Florida, and Long Island City, New York, among other cities. JetBlue will serve 43 nonstop destinations out of Boston with the addition of new service to St. Thomas starting December 15.

About Revere Neighborhood Developers

Revere Neighborhood Developers is an affiliate of Chelsea Neighborhood Developers (CND), a community development corporation that seeks to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and to foster equitable community development in Chelsea Massachusetts and neighboring North Shore communities. We were founded in 1979 and for our first 25 years, affordable housing development was our primary area of activity. Over time, we learned that we needed to broaden our community development strategies to achieve meaningful revitalization of distressed neighborhoods.  Today, CND employs three investment strategies to build vibrant and sustainable neighborhoods: 1) real estate development to strengthen housing markets and to expand affordable housing inventory; 2) community engagement to foster a resilient social fabric and civic infrastructure; and 3) resident asset development to increase family prosperity.  For more information visit www.ChelseaND.org.

About the City of Revere

Hugging the coastline just north of Boston, Revere is a diverse city of 56,000 people. Built on less than six square miles, it is home to a multicultural, socio-economically diverse community of distinct neighborhoods.  The City is working hard to revitalize its open spaces and create recreational opportunities for residents of all ages and abilities while protecting its natural resources, developing facilities that promote fitness and health and strengthening community stewardship of its parks. Home to Revere Beach, the first public beach in the nation, Revere serves not only its own population's recreational needs, but also helps serve those of neighboring communities.

About KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, 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.

About JetBlue Corporate Social Responsibility

JetBlue is committed to the cities it serves through support and alignment with not-for-profit organizations that focus on children, education, communities and the environment. Through a variety of programs and activities, JetBlue crewmembers are encouraged to help make an impact and inspire greatness in others while enriching the lives of individuals and communities across the airline's network. Through JetBlue's Community Connection Volunteer Program and other Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, JetBlue partners with a variety of philanthropic and community-focused organizations, including KaBOOM!, DoSomething.org, The American Cancer Society and their Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks; First Book, a not-for-profit organization with the mission to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books; and PBS KIDS, where JetBlue partnered to create Soar with Reading – Let Your Imagination Take Flight, a literacy campaign to help raise readers. In addition, JetBlue has created a platform called Jetting to Green which encourages environmentally-friendly practices through education and volunteerism.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue is known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, offering the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch) and super-spacious Even More Legroom seats. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 66 cities with 650 daily flights and later this year plans to introduce service to St. Croix and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as La Romana, Dominican Republic and Liberia, Costa Rica.  With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JET-BLUE (1-800-538-2583), TTY/TDD 1-800-336-5530, 1-801-365-2583, or visit www.jetblue.com.

SOURCE JetBlue Airways