Hundreds of School Children Receive New, Safe Place to Play

Keystone Mercy Health Plan and School Leaders Build Playground in One Day at Village Charter School

October 23, 2007
Philadelphia, PA – Hundreds of students at Village Charter School in Chester Township got a new place to play yesterday when a team from Keystone Mercy Health Plan built a modern, safe playground in one day on the school's campus. The senior leadership team of Keystone Mercy Health Plan, led by Anne Morrissey, President of Pennsylvania Managed Care, was joined by Village Charter School's Headmaster John Linder and Principal Dale Kelly for the build day.

This playground project is sponsored by Keystone Mercy Health Plan and was built in an effort to provide a setting for safe, healthy physical activity for the students of Village Charter School, with the goal of decreasing preventable injuries and contributing to the healthy development of the children in the community. 

The build began constructing at 7:00 a.m., and the playground was completed at 2:30 p.m., in time for the end of the school day.  As part of the project, benches were also installed and a mural painted in the playground area.  After a ribbon cutting ceremony, the playground was presented to the children, who were immediately given the chance to run and play on their new playground for the first time. 

"All of us at Keystone Mercy are very proud of this playground that provides the children at Village Charter Schools a safe place to play.  It is a wonderful embodiment of our mission to build healthier communities," said Anne Morrissey.  "It was a great team effort from the Keystone Mercy Leadership Team who volunteered their time to build this playground from the ground up in just one day. It was very rewarding experience to see the smiling faces on the children as they played on their new playground."

Background

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, preventable injuries are the leading cause of death for children under the age of 14 in the U.S., with more than 14 million children sustaining preventable injuries that require medical attention each year.  As part of their mission to help build healthier communities, Keystone Mercy Health Plan is interested in developing safe play spaces that decrease injuries, while promoting the healthy development of children through play.  This is Keystone Mercy’s second safe playground project, utilizing tools and guidelines provided by KABOOM!, a national non-profit organization that envisions a safe place to play within walking distance of every child in America.  Keystone Mercy associates and volunteers from the community built a playground at Luis Munoz-Marin Elementary School in Philadelphia in March 2007. 

About Keystone Mercy Health Plan
Keystone Mercy Health Plan, a health care ministry of the Sisters of Mercy in affiliation with Keystone First, Inc., is the largest Medical Assistance managed care organization in Pennsylvania, serving more than 290,000 Medical Assistance recipients.  Keystone Mercy's mission is to help people get care, stay well and build healthy communities.  For more information about Keystone Mercy Health Plan, please visit www.keystonemercy.com.