When you look at Jennie Reed Elementary’s schoolyard in Tacoma, Washington, you see a textbook example of how rising heat and flooding impact millions of children who attend schools in communities with outdated schoolyards.
At this school, and countless others across the country, the asphalt playground broils when the sun is out and doesn’t hold water when it rains. What little grass the children at Jennie Reed have to play on is often flooded from November to April, and the rest of it is muddy. The principal calls it “Lake Reed.”
The play equipment is from the 1950s and the eight-lane interstate highway that runs past the school is so noisy that teachers and children can’t hear each other speak outdoors at lunchtime or recess.
Jennie Reed is just one example of why Trust for Public Land’s Community Schoolyards™ initiative is so important. These projects empower communities with little parkland, who are feeling the effects of heat islands and flooding more acutely than communities that have more green space and trees.
And thanks to the support of individuals like you who are committed to closing the park equity gap, a transformation is underway at Jennie Reed and at schoolyards just like it across the country.
And your support will also expand park access for the entire Jennie Reed community.
Tacoma, a city of 213,000, notably lacking in parkland, is often overshadowed by Seattle, its bigger, wealthier, greener neighbor to the north.
And despite having some of the best public parks in Washington, Tacoma has one of the lowest 10-minute walk access scores of any city in the state, meaning fewer residents can reach a park within a ten-minute walk of their homes.
That’s the beauty of the Community Schoolyards initiative. Because every project doubles as a public park, your gift to Trust for Public Land today will have exponential impact for Jennie Reed and the surrounding local community.
Together we can improve the lives of schoolchildren and provide park access for nature-deprived communities.
Please make your gift today.
Sincerely,
Josh VanDavier
Associate Director, Digital Membership
