A steady stream of volunteers, young and old, from across the Drew Community showed up in force on Saturday to help with the construction of the new KaBoom Playspace, adjacent to the grounds of the former Drew High School.
The playground is a joint effort between the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, We2gether Creating Change, the City of Drew, KaBoom and community volunteers.
Rhea Williams-Bishop, Director of Programs, Mississippi-New Orleans, W.K. Kellogg Foundation said conversations about constructing the playspace began about two years ago after District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson and other members of the Drew community approached the foundation and as a result they reached out to KaBoom.
She said Saturday’s workforce was comprised of teams from Battle Creek, New Orleans and Jackson.
“When we found out that the children of Drew didn’t have a playground, I think we were all a little shocked and devastated,” said Williams-Bishop.
According to her, Kellogg functions by three tenets with regard to the work that they do: cooperative planning, intelligence study and group action.
“So, this is a really good example today of group action at work and so we wanted to be a part of that. We didn’t just want to be a funder that cut a check, we wanted to actually be in collaboration and working side-by-side with members of the community,” she said.
Williams-Bishop added, “We’re focused on children, everything that we do is related to improving the lives of children.” She added that the goals of the foundation’s effort is to make sure that children are thriving and in families that are working, secure and stable in communities that are engaged and equitable.
Williams-Bishop said they strive to be supportive in whatever the community says it wants or needs and tries to help find the resources to make it happen, “As one of many partners.” She said, “We’re not the end all, do all, be all. Everything we do has to be in conjunction with other partners, so the efforts will be sustained over time.”
Volunteers hauled mulch and sand, mixed and poured cement and those with construction prowess assembled play centers, arbors and picnic tables.
And even though the work on the playground was completed on Saturday, the children still had to wait a few days before they could begin enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Robyn Rosenthal, communications officer, WKKF, stated that more than a decade ago Kellogg designated certain areas as priority investment locales. “And Mississippi is a priority for our investments,” she said. Rosenthal also mentioned that Sunflower County was among the three key areas in the state, along with Jackson and East Biloxi, where they are concentrating their assets.
However she made it clear that the foundation has made no commitment regarding what their future investments in the county or in Drew will look like.
Regarding a proposed grocery store project, Rosenthal said, “We just know that as they are prioritizing things, the grocery store has been a priority, but we don’t know what the Kellogg Foundation’s role is in that just yet.”
Williams-Bishop and Rosenthal said they do have representatives that meet with members of the Drew community; however, since the foundation doesn’t do any capital improvement projects, their role is mainly to act as a liaison between Drew and other partners and communities that have done what they are trying to do.
“We look at ourselves as being a connector,” Rosenthal said.
