Yao foundation to fund new nature playground for local kids

It’s recess time at Walker’s Day Care Center in Houston, but there’s not much of a playground to play in.

When Hurricane Ike struck south Texas in October 2008, it pulled up the merry-go-round and swing-set and ruined the tricycles so the preschool children have to run around in a playground across the street.

Loretta Walker, the owner of the day care, said, “Everything was just blown away. We were trying to replace some things, but it’s never been like it was.”

According to the Houston Chronicle, help is headed Walker’s way in the form of a popular, tall Houston athlete, Yao Ming. The center for the Houston Rockets will donate more than $100,000 through the Yao Ming Foundation to rebuild playgrounds destroyed by Ike. Read full article here.

“Galveston still has not totally recovered. I’m very close to local people,” Yao said. “They treat me like family, and I want to give back.”

Along with Walker’s Day Care Center, the foundation will aide Sunnyside Head Start Center, Sharp Early Childhood Development Center and the Chinese Community Center with new nature-based playground facilities next year, starting in January.

Those four playgrounds will be completely revamped with a greater focus on nature. The article said the playgrounds will have the typical equipment plus “meadows of natural grass and flowers, gardens, butterfly areas and places where children can dig and explore.” The reason is to enrich the schools current curriculum and give children more fun, outdoor activities.

Shattuck said there is research on how children make the most of their time outside not with slides and swings but by spending time discovering the nature around them.

Prior to making the decision to give money to playground funding, Stephanie Sandler, who helped the basketball star create his foundation, said Yao visited two local schools with nature-based playgrounds during this summer. Sandler, also the senior vice president for The Giving Back Fund, said the rebuilding playgrounds coincided with the foundation’s mission “to promote education and opportunities for children.”

The article said the grant will be given to the Collaborative for Children, a local non-profit organization that supports children’s education. It will also take part in the actual construction of each playground one at a time. Collaborative director Carol Shattuck said the last facility should be completed by May.

“When the collaborative told us the Ming Foundation was funding a new playground and (the Collaborative for Children) were coming to do everything for us, we were ecstatic and excited about it,” Walker said.

The collaborative has already been active will hurricane recovery by helping 331 Texas early learning centers and even shelling out $500,000 for playground repairs.

Yao first started the foundation to assist China rebuild schools after the earthquake last year. So far, five schools were constructed and more are planned for the future.

“I like to help people,” Yao said. “It’s what I learned from my parents. As I get more famous, I have more responsibility. Obviously, the earthquake in China really affected me because this is my home and these are my people.”

Sandler said the foundation is currently having talks about long-term plans for projects in China and the U.S.