Throughout the year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of Playworks and with it, 20 years of bringing healthy, safe, and inclusive play to hundreds of thousands of children across the country.
Spanning 20 playful years, Playworks has grown to become the nonprofit leader using the power of play to transform children’s social, emotional, and physical health. In 1996, Playworks Founder and CEO Jill Vialet launched Sports4Kids, now called Playworks, in two Berkeley, CA elementary schools after she met with a school principal who asked for help in reducing the chaos and conflict in the schoolyard during recess.
With a multi-million dollar investment from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that spanned a decade, as well as a partnership with AmeriCorps, support from our national corporate partners, and donations from thousands of individuals, Playworks has since grown to serve 750,000 children annually in 1,300 elementary schools in nearly every state.
Additionally, many of our Playworks regions are celebrating anniversaries of their own. Playworks Massachusetts is celebrating ten years in the Boston metropolitan area. Playworks Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Utah are celebrating five years in their communities.
There is one thing we know for certain after 20 years on school playgrounds in communities all across the country: play works for every kid. And we don’t plan to stop any time soon. Now more than ever, every kid deserves the chance to play.
Stay tuned—throughout 2016, we’ll be inviting you to help amplify play for every kid across America.
Thank you for 20 years of supporting the life-changing power of play!
