Darell Hammond was born almost 200 years after the man who must have been his past life embodiment: Johnny Appleseed. Appleseed introduced apple trees in large sections of the Midwest as America, in its infancy, entered the 1800s. His legend quickly spread for his role in seeding apple nurseries, lush in symbolism, as well as stories of his remarkable selfless and generous persona. Fast forward to the 1990s, when another man of humble origins and indefatigable spirit, Darell Hammond, was moved to provide children with the generative experience of play that had been evaporating from American cities.
Over the past 15 years, Hammond and his band of modern, secular missionaries have built 2,000 (!) playgrounds in this United States through KaBOOM!, the organization he founded. What's more, his methods -- open source -- account for 40 percent of the all the playgrounds now built across the country using local volunteers and instructions downloaded from KaBOOM!'s website.
Hammond began KaBOOM! with an innovative method in which communities not only create a play space for their children but also experience the satisfaction of knowing it was their community of children and adults who built the playground. That is what he means when he says that KaBOOM! "facilitates transformation... not just transaction."
Hammond's first playground rose out of the ashes of a horrific tragedy. He had moved to Washington, D.C. and was planning a playground at a desolate, inner-city housing project when The Washington Post carried a story of the death of two children, ages 4 and 2, who went to play in a parked car, were locked inside, and died of the heat and suffocation. The Post called the story "No Place to Play." The mission of KaBOOM! was thus born: creating "a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America." Hammond himself was raised in a foster care setting outside Chicago after his father abandoned the family, leaving his mother to raise eight children. Yet his attitude, as is so sweetly conveyed in the tale of personal and societal striving that he presents in his memoir, "KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play," is not one of "pity me" but instead of a duty to serve -- and serve he has.
For those unfamiliar with KaBOOM!, let me offer a few details. The process starts with a community wanting to create a playground (not with KaBOOM! arriving and saying we have something for you). The impetus thus derives from a community, which then has to mobilize partners and generate resources (a playground typically costs $75,000, which is affordable to even highly depressed areas through methods they are coached in). Then comes "Design Day," when local children draw their ideas of the playground they want to play in and neighborhood residents plan it for their community. Within 12 weeks "Build Day" arrives: in six hours the playground is constructed. That may be hard to believe, but given that it's been done 2,000 times, you gotta believe it. Amazingly, 86 percent of the playgrounds they have built have been maintained in the years that follow, a testimonial to the process of having communities create, construct and then "own" what they have done. If you want to know more, do read the book.
In the early years, KaBOOMers organized the playground builds themselves, but they soon realized that building playgrounds at the pace of 200 a year or even multiples of that would not realize their aim of a playground in reach of all children. That is when their mission began to evolve into a movement. Inspired by, of all things, a wedding-planning website (which he and his now-wife turned to), Hammond realized you can systematically plan for a playground just like a wedding. Over recent years, KaBOOM! has provided open source information about how to build playgrounds and estimates that for every playground they build, 10 more are done by following their online instructions. Even more recently, learning from children about the value of unstructured play, they have developed a "Playground in a Box," a giant toy box that, combined with water and sand, become the ingredients for opening a playground just about anywhere. Their playgrounds are now even more diverse, and their projects have included nature and skateboard parks. Their company, a not-for-profit, remains fresh with the creative power of play driving their work.
Hammond is a genial man, without pretensions, who will wear a sport coat to a fundraiser but clearly would rather be in work clothes building and playing with children. His memoir shows how one person after another "adopts" him, mentors him and becomes a part of the mission himself or herself. These fellow travelers include the Director General of Moose International, which fully funds Hammond's foster care home; community development gurus; Marion Wright Edelman; and corporate titans. Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Colin Powell, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama have all joined his cause and have participated in KaBOOM! Build Days. What I see is that Hammond draws great people to him because of who he is and the magic of the movement he has created. Play is not an incidental activity: it is seminal in the lives of children and the health of communities. Hammond is a modern-day Johnny Appleseed out to plant the seeds of play within reach of every child in America.
* * * * *
The opinions expressed herein are solely those of Dr. Sederer, as a psychiatrist and public health advocate.
Dr. Sederer receives no support from any pharmaceutical or device company.
For questions you want answered, reviews and stories, visit Dr. Sederer's website at www.askdrlloyd.com.