The CarMax Foundation and KaBOOM! Put Kids First by Increasing Access to Play in Atlanta

ATLANTA, Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Volunteers from The CarMax Foundation, Star-C and the community will join KaBOOM! on Thursday, October 24, to transform an empty site into a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground in just six hours at Springview Apartments in Southwest Atlanta. The new playground will help make play the easy choice for kids and families in Springview and the adjacent Summerdale Apartments.

Play is essential to physical, creative, cognitive, social and emotional development. Currently, there is no play structure at Springview or Summerdale and Star-C Programs recognizes the importance of play, exercise and engagement in the lives of children. Through this project, Star-C will work with The CarMax Foundation and KaBOOM! to make a difference in their community and address the most urgent needs of kids.

In October, kids from the surrounding community came together to draw their dream playground. The playground is based on their drawings and will provide thousands of kids in Atlanta with a great, safe place to play over its lifetime.

The CarMax Foundation has provided the majority of the funding for the playground through its national partnership with KaBOOM!, supporting The Foundation's commitment to furthering the cause of children's healthy living. The project is among 68 new playspaces that The CarMax Foundation and KaBOOM! will create across the country by the end of 2021 – a $4.4 million investment. Through this partnership, KaBOOM! is creating an oasis where kids feel valued and loved, and where their potential is supported, nurtured and celebrated.

Star-C is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that bills itself as an education model with an affordable housing solution. Star-C improves educational outcomes by helping to reduce transiency in underserved areas by providing wraparound services to students and families in our partner affordable housing communities. Star-C seeks to transform chronically low performing schools into schools of choice by stabilizing traditionally underserved communities and mitigating the negative effects of poverty. One of the biggest determinants of a high-need school is transiency — the movement of a student out of a set learning environment after only a short period of time — and one of the biggest predictors of transiency rates in a community is a lack of affordable housing. Star-C interrupts this cycle; reduces transiency, improves educational outcomes and helps to stabilize communities by ensuring students and families have access to affordable housing and community-based wraparound services. Star-C partners also ensure residents have access to affordable medical care. Star-C holds a monthly breakfast so anyone can learn more about the organization, programs and outlook; see Monthly Breakfast information on its website: http://www.star-c.org.

The CarMax Foundation enriches the communities where our associates live and work. Together with CarMax, Inc., the Foundation has donated more than $60 million since 2003. Funding programs are made available through a portion of CarMax, Inc.'s pre-tax profits. CarMax, the nation's largest retailer of used cars, revolutionized the automotive retail industry by driving integrity, honesty and transparency in every interaction. CarMax continues to innovate and is currently rolling out an omni-channel experience, providing customers the option to complete transactions entirely from home, in store, or in a seamless combination of both. CarMax has more than 200 stores nationwide, and during the latest fiscal year sold nearly 750,000 used cars and 450,000 wholesale vehicles at its in-store auctions. With more than 25,000 associates, CarMax is proud to have been recognized for 15 consecutive years as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®. For more information, visit www.carmax.com. #carmaxcares

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 improve more than 17,000 playspaces, engage over 1.5 million volunteers and serve nearly 10 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

CONTACTS:
Star-C: Drew Plant, 678-637-5532, [email protected]
The CarMax Foundation: Lindsey Duke | 804-317-8852 | [email protected]
KaBOOM!: Tamara Grider | 202-464-6196 | [email protected]

SOURCE Star-C Programs

Related Links

http://www.star-c.org