Playground Builders - Latest News
Disney Club Penguin matched donation goal reached!
Thanks to all who contributed to reach our goal. We have the funds now to complete playground #100!
More playgrounds completed in Afghanistan
January 2012 In the last two months, more playgrounds have opened in Afghanistan and more are under construction.
Best of the Fest a Success
April 2011 - The final event of the TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival, The Best of the Fest, was dedicated to Playground Builders. The Festival has helped to contribute over $28,000 over the past three years and we hope to build on this success in years to come.
The Best of the Fest relives all the good times plus more, showing highlights from:
- Winner of multimedia extravaganza, 3P0
- Highlights from the 10 year Filmmaker Showdown Awards Gala, Film 10
- Winning film from the 72hr Filmmaker Showdown
- Winner of the new Action Sports Filmmaking competition, Intersection
- Winning slideshow of photos in the Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown
Funding Play, Building Hope
Pique Newsmagazine, December 16, 2010
Playground Builders made the cover! Pique Newsmagazine features a four page article on Playground Builders to date.
The Vancouver Girls Soccer Club U12 Killerwhales have a goal!
We want to help girls in Afghanistan to play soccer, like us. The children of the world should be equal. Millions of girls have just recently been allowed to return to school. They now have the chance to learn and interact, but the schools lack safe play areas. The girls want to play soccer, but they need a field.
We want to support these girls by giving them the chance to play soccer. Your donation will give thousands of girls the chance to play and have fun and thereby gain confidence to take on the difficult challenges in their lives.
Thank you so much!
Sydney, Samantha, Maddie, Erin, Ella, Ruby, Fionn, Sophie, Svetlana, Hallie, Sophia and Merlin
Private Donations Match $10,000
November 12, 2010: Supporters of PGB answered the call for an anonymous donor pledging to match donations up to $10,000! From October 1 to November 11, PGB supporters donated over $10,000 in response to the challenge. Twice as many smiles!
PGB Featured on 'Dispatches'
November 9, 2010: PGB is featured on CBC's popular 'Dispatches' program with Rick MacInnis Ray. See our feature
Keith Reynolds, shortlisted in CBC "Champions of Change" contest
We are beyond proud to announce that founder and president, Keith Reynolds, has made the top 50 from almost 2000 nominations for the CBC production, 'Champions of Change'. CBC News and Outpost, Canada's premiere adventure travel magazine, have joined forces to produce a unique program celebrating volunteerism in Canada; the program announced its 50 shortlisted nominees on November 8.
Read more.
Champions of Change aims to reveal the new activism and citizenship being expressed across the country. The contest kicked off on Canada Day, 2010 when the public was invited to nominate volunteers in five categories until the end of September. In mid-November, 10 finalists will be revealed and a voting phase begun. Five finalists will eventually be honoured for doing great work here in Canada, and another five for making a difference internationally.
Keith is nominated in the International Housing and Infrastructure category. Each finalist will have an on-air video profile and a web page describing their accomplishments. The profiles will be seen on 'Connect', 'The National' and other CBC News Network programs. In January 2011, two winners — one domestic and one international — will be chosen by the Canadian public. The grand prizewinners will both receive a $25,000 cash prize for the charitable organization of their choice, while each of the eight other finalists will receive $10,000 for their charity choices.
School Playground opens on International Peace Day
This playground was a gift of three young siblings, Rafael, Clara and Gabriel Gonzalez, who live in Vancouver. One day, these children may visit the playground and new friends they have not yet met.
See the wonderful correspondence we received from the opening ceremony:
Read the letter.
Congratulation, we had a wonderful opening of the Girls High school Park.
Today, at the early in the morning we went there and took part in the arrangement of the ceremony. The school director has invited lots of other schools directors, delegation from the Ministry of Education and the General Director of the Education Department of the whole Kabul Province and Kabul city. They all came at 10:00am at the morning. The school children have worn very nice colorful clothes and they stood on the way and greeted the guest with very nice honors. The Program started at 10:30am and all the children and school director thanked HEWAD and Playground Builders of Canada for the very nice Park. Then we all went to Park and the General Education Director and I tore the Opening cloth. Then the General Director also thanked me and through me he conveyed his finest greetings and thanks to the Playground Builders Team in Canada.
At the time of the tearing the opening cloth the children made free lots of pigeons in the air and named the Park with the Peace Park. The have made lots of the doves from the papers and hanged them on the trees.
Please congratulate every one International Peace Day and pray for us to have peace in our country forever.
Thank you so much for the contributing the great work in the bringing of the peace in Afghanistan through establishment of the Peace Park.
Wish you great success in your peaceful life.
Regards,
Dr. Inayat