MedImmune And KaBOOM! Team Up To Build New Playground At The Children's Inn At NIH

BETHESDA, Md., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Summer is a time to play and July 23rd is when The Children's Inn at NIH will get a fabulous new playground thanks to the generosity of MedImmune and KaBOOM!

An 8:30 a.m. kickoff ceremony will energize about 150 volunteers from MedImmune, The Children's Inn and organizers from KaBOOM!, who will build the new playground in less than six hours. The playground will be fully accessible to all children and families and will include a spiral slide, swings, a Bing Boing, chimes, bells and talking flowers – as well as lots of places to sit and relax.

''We are very excited for a new playground at The Inn," said CEO Kathy Russell. This new playground, which is part of a larger park project, will greatly expand and enhance The Inn's backyard for all ages to have fun.  "The mission of The Inn is to give kids and families a break, to take their minds off the treatments. What better way than a spectacular place to play outside.''

The Children's Inn at NIH is a nonprofit residence for families to stay free of charge while their children participate in groundbreaking treatments and biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health.  Families travel from across the country and around the world to stay together at The Inn. Some spend a few days, others months. While the NIH cares for a child's medical needs, The Inn cares for the family's heart, soul and spirit. More than 10,000 children have stayed at The Inn since 1990. About 1,500 families stay each year.

MedImmune has provided a charitable grant to KaBOOM! to support the playground project and will be providing 75 volunteers for build day. The project is the second between MedImmune and KaBOOM!, which previously built a playground in Escondido, CA., in 2007.

"Throughout MedImmune's nearly 25-year-history, volunteerism and community involvement have been directly linked to our mission to advance science and medicine to help people live longer, healthier and more satisfying lives," said Max Donley, Executive Vice President of Human Resources & Corporate Affairs for MedImmune. "This local community project creates a safe place for healthy, active play and a welcome release from treatments for these kids during their time at The Children's Inn and NIH."

The playground is one of more than 150 builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2012 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

"Every child deserves to have a great place to play and we're thrilled to partner with MedImmune to help give The Children's Inn such a special place," said Darell Hammond, KaBOOM! Founder & CEO. "Play is a natural, therapeutic activity for children and we are extremely excited to be able to provide The Children Inn's and the children they serve with an opportunity to play and enjoy being kids."

About The Children's Inn at NIH
The Children's Inn at NIH, www.childrensinn.org, is a nonprofit residential "place like home" for seriously ill children and their families who stay together at The Inn during medical research at the National Institutes of Health. About 1,500 families travel from across the country and around the world each year – more than 10,000 have stayed at The Inn since opening in 1990. While the NIH pursues groundbreaking medical discoveries and cares for a child's medical needs, The Inn tends to the child's heart, soul and spirit. Families stay at The Inn free of charge, no matter how long.

About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national nonprofit 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 nonprofit KaBOOM! in 1996 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 89,000 places to play, built more than 2,100 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.

SOURCE MedImmune