An inspiration to her community, Christina-Taylor Green received a fitting tribute today as The Allstate Foundation announces plans to replace the 35-year-old play equipment at Christina's school, Mesa Verde Elementary, in Tucson, Arizona.
Green's teachers and community will come together to build the new Christina-Taylor Green Little Hands Playground on September 17; the playground will be dedicated a week later, in a ceremony on September 24.
"Christina always looked after her classmates and the people she loved," said Roxanna Green, Christina's mother. "The playground will provide a fun and safe place for Mesa Verde students and residents to play for years to come something Christina would have loved for our community."
The Christina-Taylor Green Little Hands Playground is the result of a $140,000 donation from The Allstate Foundation to The Injury Free Coalition for Kids at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The Allstate Foundation has built more than 40 playgrounds nationwide with Injury Free; this will be the first in Arizona.
"Allstate wanted to honor Christina's memory and to help the Tucson community renew in the wake of the sad event that took Christina's life," said Denis Bailey, field senior vice president for Allstate Insurance Company in Arizona. "This will be a safe, happy place in a city where our customers, employees and friends live, work and play, so this project means a great deal to all of us."
Mesa Verde Principal Foster Hepler said the school prides itself on the health and wellness of its students and a new playground was the school's long-time wish. "It's an opportunity for our school to honor the memory of our dear friend, Christina, while providing an outlet for our students to become physically and mentally fit," he said.
In addition to The Allstate Foundation, a number of community and corporate organizations contributed to the project. This includes an in-kind donation of concrete construction and labor valued at $13,000 by the Sundt Foundation. Also, Mesa Verde Student Council utilized donations by neighboring schools, organizations and individuals in the memory of Christina-Taylor Green to aid in the project. Other funds were provided by The John Jay and Rich Care for Kids Foundation and Little Tikes Corporation.
In May, dozens of Christina-Taylor Green's classmates gathered with their physical education teacher, Ann Wheaton, around renderings of slides, monkey bars, climbing walls and ladders as they chose their favorite ways to play. The Allstate Foundation, Injury Free Coalition and Little Tikes representatives listened as the children shared their thoughts on artwork and equipment to replace the current play area, consisting of original metal structures dating back to 1978 -- the year the school was built. The playground colors were chosen by Christina's classmates to reflect the school colors red, blue and white. They also chose a butterfly image as the playground focal point, since Christina loved butterflies and frequently drew them in her artwork.
Injury Fee and Little Tikes then rendered thoughts from that session into a design that features accessible, safe equipment, spans nearly 2,000-square-feet, and features a transfer station with safety rails for wheelchair accessibility; a rock challenge wall; three slides; five climbing areas; several spinning functions; and a soft-landing safety surface.
"When I started The Injury Free Coalition, I realized too many children were injured because they did not have a safe place to play," said Dr. Barbara Barlow, MD, Executive Director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. "For the past 23 years, we have successfully reduced injury through education, construction of safe play areas and the development and support of safe supervised activities."
Since 2001, the Injury Free Coalition and The Allstate Foundation have a history of promoting safe and vital communities that emphasize tolerance, inclusion, diversity and economic empowerment through the Little Hands Playground projects. The Coalition is helping to reduce injuries, the number one cause of death and hospitalization for young people. In addition to preventing unintentional injuries to children, community interventions involving the creation of "Safe Play Spaces" such as the Little Hands Playground projects revitalize distressed neighborhoods and reestablishes community spirit and pride by empowering a broad based coalition of residents with the skills and relationships necessary to improve the quality of their lives.
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This release was originally posted to the Allstate Newsroom on August 24th, 2011
Meri A is an advocate for the Allstate Newsroom
