Atlanta, GA. 08.27.2010 – Aspen Logistics, Inc. will be sending two representatives to this year’s playground build event in Atlanta Georgia. The Home Depot Foundation along with its partners, suppliers and the nonprofit Kaboom organization and YMCA have put together this year’s event. The event will have more than 300 volunteers whose goal will be to build a state-of-the-art 2,500 square foot playground in one day. The play ground will provide a safe, fun environment for the children in the community. This is the third year which Aspen has volunteered for the event. Aspen who found out about the opportunity through its partnership with the Home Depot jumped at the chance to be involved. The event will be held on Thursday September 23rd in Atlanta Georgia.
The Home Depot Foundation will be funding the playground through a grant along with a contribution from Bill Lucas YMCA. The Home Depot Foundation as a founding member of KaBoom provides the organization’s financial support, materials, and volunteers for their projects nationwide.
Aspen, as a supplier to the Home Depot’s logistics network, was invited to partake in this year’s project in Atlanta. Aspen, who is a third party logistics (3PL) company, will be sending two members of its organization to participate in the build – Dan Anderson and Garry Barfuss. The company feels that economic times have not faired well on local communities. Hit hardest of all are programs that support kids. Aspen sees the Home Depot Foundation and KaBoom as fantastic organizations that are needed, especial in today’s environment. “This is an opportunity to give back in a great way - to participate where local communities financially can’t,” says Chris Ticknor, Aspen’s head of Marketing and overseer of their charitable efforts.
The Bill Lucas YMCA’s goal for this project is to create an outdoor educational learning environment and a fun, interactive space for children to play. The existing playground is over thirty years old and no longer meets the needs of the children at the site. The new playground will enhance the social, emotional, and physical lives of the children at Bill Lucas YMCA by providing them a perfect location to make friends, develop self-confidence, and build fine and gross motor skills.
Date: Thursday, September 23
Event Address:
Bill Lucas YMCA Early Learning Center
601 Pryor Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30312
For additional information please contact Chris Ticknor Aspen’s Corporate Marketing Manager, or call Aspen (800) 741-7360.
Aspen Logistics Inc. is a top 100 third party logistics firm who has been in business for over 30 years and operates approximately 3 million square feet of modern refrigerated and ambient warehouse facilities along with their own fleet of trucks. Aspen specializes in a variety of value-added services, including co-packing, pick pack, just-in-time inventory management and time sensitive custom deliveries. Aspen is a specialist in the retail and healthcare supply chain and understanding the details involved with shipping to major retailers and grocery chains has been a key to its successes.
Created in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation supports nonprofit organizations dedicated to creating and preserving healthy, affordable homes as the cornerstone of sustainable communities. The Foundation’s goal is for all families to have the opportunity to live in healthy, efficient homes they can afford over the long-term; to have access to safe, vibrant parks and greenspaces; and to receive the economic, social and environmental benefits of living in a sustainable community. Since its formation, The Home Depot Foundation has granted $190 million to nonprofit organizations and supported the development of more than 95,000 homes, planted more than 1.2 million trees, and built or refurbished more than 1875 playgrounds, parks and greenspaces. For more information, visitwww.homedepotfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter homedepotfdn.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play. Through community building, the company is focused on giving every child in America a great place to play within walking distance. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,700 new playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, free online trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers – a national network of individual advocates for play. KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
The Bill Lucas Southside YMCA is part of the Butler Street YMCA system, an independent organization associated with the YMCA of Greater Atlanta. A direct result of racial segregation, the Butler Street YMCA was once the only YMCA option for African-American citizens in the area. Today, the Butler Street YMCA operates four local facilities, including the Bill Lucas Southside YMCA. Established in 1977 in the Mechanicsville neighborhood of Atlanta, the Bill Lucas Early Learning Centeris a state licensed child development center serving children aged two to twelve. Activities are structured to accommodate both working and non-working parents, offering children a chance to grow and develop in a positive, structured setting. Staff members from all four Butler Street YMCA facilities are excited to participate, as are the parents whose children attend programs at the Bill Lucas location. With the great work done by the Bill Lucas YMCA, a rich history including Martin Luther King, Jr. attending the Butler Street YMCA, and Atlanta Brave Bill Lucas being the first African American General Manager in Major League Baseball, this will certainly be an extremely rewarding build.
