More than 200 UnitedHealthcare employees, the New England Patriots
Charitable Foundation and the New England Revolution Charitable
Foundation will team up with Bentley University, Brandeis University and
the Waltham Housing Authority to build a new playground at Prospect Hill
Terrace.
The new 2,576-square-foot playground in Waltham will include a spiral
slide, monorail, rock-climber and many other components. The
playground’s design is based on drawings created by Waltham children who
participated in a “design day” event in July.
This is one of three playgrounds UnitedHealthcare is building today as
part of its “Do Good. Live Well.” program, an employee-volunteer
initiative to help prevent obesity. Hundreds of UnitedHealthcare
volunteers will build other playgrounds Union Beach, N.J., and Dix
Hills, N.Y.
“As we work with UnitedHealthcare on our fourth playground together, we
continue to build upon our mission of encouraging children to live
healthy lifestyles,” said Josh Kraft, president, New England Patriots
Charitable Foundation. “We hope the playground will enrich the lives of
children at Waltham’s Prospect Hill Terrace and demonstrate to all
involved the benefits of volunteering.”
“UnitedHealthcare is a fantastic partner of the New England Revolution,
and we’re very excited to participate in its employee volunteer program
for this project,” said Brian Bilello, president, New England
Revolution. “We look forward to working together to construct a
playground that will help the children of Prospect Hill Terrace
participate in healthy activities.”
“UnitedHealthcare’s employee volunteers are honored to help build a
playground that will give local children a safe place to play and
exercise outdoors with their friends and family,” said Stephen Farrell,
president and CEO, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual of New England.
Prospect Hill Terrace is the largest public housing development in
Waltham, with 144 units for low-income families. The new playground will
complement a new community center also being unveiled at Prospect Hill
Terrace. Bentley University and Brandeis University students will manage
the community center programs.
“We’re happy this playground build is happening at the same time we’re
creating a new community center in Prospect Hill Terrace,” said Walter
McGuire, executive director, Waltham Housing Authority. “Its mission to
improve the lives of our residents and the greater Waltham community
through enriching and sustainable academic and social programs for
children, teenagers, and adults correlates well with this project.”
The volunteers are working with KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit
organization dedicated to giving kids the childhood they deserve by
bringing play to those who need it most. The Waltham playground, one of
more than 150 such projects led by KaBOOM this year, will be the 12th
playground created by KaBOOM! and UnitedHealthcare.
For more information about the benefits of volunteering and to find
local opportunities to get involved, visit DoGoodLiveWell.org.
Follow @DoGoodLiveWell
on Twitter or "like" Do Good. Live Well. on Facebook.
About Waltham Housing Authority
The
Waltham Housing is an independent Government Agency with state and
federal funding whose mission is to provide safe, sanitary, and
affordable housing to low income residents of our community and the
State of Massachusetts. The Authority owns, operates and maintains over
800 low income units at 23 sites in the City of Waltham and subsidizes
the rents of another 450 privately owned apartments. We serve the
housing needs of approximately 2500 low-income persons within our City.
To provide more than just a place to live, we partner with other dynamic
institutions such as Bentley University and Brandies University to
assist us to enhance the quality of life of our many low income
residents throughout the community. The Waltham Housing Authority has
been providing quality housing for families, elderly and disabled
persons since 1949 in the City of Waltham.
About Bentley University
BENTLEY
UNIVERSITY is one of the nation’s leading business schools, dedicated to
preparing a new kind of business leader – one with the deep technical
skills, broad global perspective, and high ethical standards required to
make a difference in an ever-changing world. Our rich, diverse arts and
sciences program, combined with an advanced business curriculum,
prepares informed professionals who make an impact in their chosen
fields. Located on a classic New England campus minutes from Boston,
Bentley is a dynamic community of leaders, scholars and creative
thinkers. The Graduate School emphasizes the impact of technology on
business practice, in offerings that include MBA and Master of Science
programs, PhD programs in accountancy and in business, and customized
executive education programs. The university enrolls approximately 4,100
full-time undergraduate, 140 adult part-time undergraduate, 1,430
graduate, and 43 doctoral students. Bentley is accredited by the New
England Association of Schools and Colleges; AACSB International – The
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; and the European
Quality Improvement System, which benchmarks quality in management and
business education.
About Brandeis University
Characterized
by academic excellence since its founding in 1948, Brandeis is one of
the youngest private research universities, as well as the only
nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college or university in the country.
Named for the late Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis of the U.S. Supreme
Court, Brandeis University combines the faculty and resources of a
world-class research institution with the intimacy and personal
attention of a small liberal arts college.
For students, that means unsurpassed access — both in and out of the
classroom — to a faculty renowned for groundbreaking research,
scholarship and artistic output. At Brandeis, professors bring newly
minted knowledge straight from the field or lab to the graduate and
undergraduate classrooms. Brandeis supports an innovative and exciting
program of learning that emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to
knowledge and the solution of real-life problems. Undergraduates, from
the very first year, enjoy leadership positions and research
opportunities typically available only to students in their third and
fourth years and graduate students. Brandeis is ranked in the top tier
of the nation's universities. Our graduates depart to pursue careers in
a wide array of fields, and advanced studies in the nation's leading
graduate and professional schools.
Located in Waltham, Mass., on 235 attractive suburban acres, Brandeis is
in an ideal location just nine miles west of Boston.
About the New England Patriots Charitable
Foundation
The New England Patriots Charitable
Foundation is the 501(c)(3) non-profit entity created by the Kraft
family to support charitable and philanthropic agencies throughout New
England. This support comes in the form of direct grants, and the
donation of signed memorabilia to a variety of charitable causes, and
from Patriots players who offer their direct support by appearing at
charity functions throughout the year. Robert Kraft established the New
England Patriots Charitable Foundation when he purchased the team in
1994 as a way for the organization to give back to the communities it
calls home. The Foundation’s primary goal is to support programs that
aid the youth and families of New England while underscoring the Kraft
family’s deep commitment to philanthropic activities in the community.
Over the past 18 years, the Foundation has made millions of dollars in
donations to thousands of non-profit organizations throughout New
England and has partnered with numerous community groups. The Foundation
actively supports non-profit groups focusing on health, education, youth
fitness and community enrichment while also implementing its own
programs in those areas of focus. For more information about the New
England Patriots Charitable Foundation, please visit www.patriots.com/community.
About the New England Revolution Charitable
Foundation
The New England Revolution Charitable
Foundation is the team’s 501(c)(3) non-profit organization through which
the Revolution support charitable and philanthropic organizations
throughout New England. This support comes in the form of both direct
grants and in-kind donations of tickets and Revolution memorabilia used
at charity fundraisers, and through a select number of player
appearances at charity functions and educational programs. New England
Revolution Charitable Foundation assists organizations and programs by
supporting their health-and-wellness and educational campaigns and
initiatives, especially those targeting youth and those with close ties
to the game of soccer and sports. For more information about the New
England Revolution Charitable Foundation, please visit www.revolutionsoccer.net/content/community.
About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated
to giving kids the childhood they deserve by bringing play to those who
need it most. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any
previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on
their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. Social
entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! in 1996 in
Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within
walking distance of every child in America because children need to play
actively every day at home, in school and in their communities. Since
then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 90,000 places to play, built more than
2,300 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in
hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities
with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on
both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the
organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New
York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!:
A Movement to Save Play, now out in paperback. The book
details how businesses and communities can work together to save play
for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has an office in San
Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to
helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health
care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and
sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers
the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers
and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with
780,000 physicians and other health care professionals and 5,900
hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves
more than 40 million people in health benefits and is one of the
businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50
health and well-being company.
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Copyright Business Wire 2013