Orangewood Avenue Baptist Church, which has been serving the Garden Grove and Stanton communities for nearly 60 years, is about to get a new playground for the children of the community, through a collaboration with KaBoom, Friendly Center, and Smile Generation.
Pastor Tye McClain and the church members have been working with KaBoom for several months to develop a new playground for the children in the community.
Orangewood Avenue Baptist Church, which has been serving the Garden Grove and Stanton communities for nearly 60 years, is about to get a new playground for the children of the community, through a collaboration with KaBoom, Friendly Center, and Smile Generation.
Pastor Tye McClain and the church members have been working with KaBoom for several months to develop a new playground for the children in the community.
Saturday, May 9, the church will provide the space needed, on its property at 8421 Orangewood Ave. (corner of Orangewood and Dale) in Garden Grove, in order to build a playground for the children in the neighborhood and students who attend Rancho Alamitos High School and Bryant Elementary School.
"When school lets out, the church's parking lot becomes a thoroughfare for parents picking up children, which provides a unique opportunity for the church to provide a safe haven for the children after school," said McClain.
McClain said they are expecting 150 to 200 volunteers to take part in playground building.
KaBoom is a national non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that children get a childhood filled with balanced and active play needed to thrive. They have worked with more than 200 cities to build playgrounds.
KaBoom is working in conjunction with the Friendly Center, which has an office at the church, where they provide emergency assistance, mental health services, job development, counseling services, domestic violence intervention, and utility assistance, to name a few services.
Friendly Center works with Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County on the first Monday of every month to distribute 8,000 pounds of food.
A Second Harvest truck takes pallets of food to the church’s parking lot where food is distributed to approximately 250 families, with 25 volunteers helping distribute the food.
Last week, eight to 10 volunteers distributed 2,000 pounds of food to approximately 90 families.
Friendly Center offers tutoring Monday through Thursday afternoons for children from 1st through 12th grades.
Soon, Friendly Center will also be opening an office in the Stanton Community Center to help meet the needs of residents in the area.
May 9, the Smile Generation will be on-site at the church, as part of the day’s activities and will host a free dental clinic for anyone in need of dental care such as cleanings, extractions, crowns and fillings. Smile Generation plans to see approximately 150 patients, both children and adults.
"With a new playground, children will have a place to exercise and socialize with other children in a safe environment," said McClain.
The Stanton Community Foundation was approached to help with the project and will be noted on an on-site plaque for its part in the project.
