The happy sounds of children playing and laughing filled the air at the new playground across the street from the Martin Branch of the Boys & Girls Club. Moments after a ribbon cutting Tuesday, 120 children ran to the new equipment– climbing, swinging, and sliding.

The brief ceremony gave community partners a chance to express their gratitude for a team effort and to watch the playground get immediate use.

“You don’t build a playground in one day without a lot of preparation,” Daphne Barlow Stigliano, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Worth, said.

The project was funded by TPG, a Fort Worth investment firm, and was organized by KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting play areas and policies. More than 400 volunteers – including those from TPG, Boys & Girls Clubs staff, Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth Poly-Wesleyan Kiwanis Club, and the Poly community – built the playground on Friday, Oct. 5.

Texas Wesleyan owns the land, but offered it to the Boys & Girls Clubs as a leased property so that they could participate in this endeavor.

“We’re delighted to be a partner with so many organizations in this area,” President Frederick G. Slabach said. “When we were asked if we’d be partner in this project, we immediately said yes.”

In addition to building the play area, volunteers also painted a mural representing the Boys & Girls Clubs and erected a community library box. Funded by OmniAmerican, the box invites visitors to leave a book and take a book – with no library fees.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth serve more than 10,000 youths, ages 6-24, through six branch locations and outreach programs in schools and the community. The Martin Branch is named for Nicholas and Louella Baker Martin, Fort Worth philanthropists and Texas Wesleyan supporters.