ATLANTA – NACS and other convenience retailing organizations joined Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Let’s Play initiative and KaBOOM! to build a playground in the metro Atlanta area last week. The event was the culmination of a three-month effort that included a design day to incorporate residents’ ideas for a community playground that best fit the area’s needs.
Nearly 100 volunteers from the local community, NACS, Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG), KABOOM!, the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores and the Atlanta Retailers Association took part in the event. Through its Let’s Play program, DPSG has facilitated more than 2,000 playground builds across the United States, which has positively impacted nearly 10 million kids.
Helping with the build were NACS President and CEO Hank Armour, and NACS board members Rahim Budhwani and Lisa Dell’Alba. and NACS Supplier Board Chairman Kevin Martello with the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. KaBOOM! is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all kids have access to active play.
“Dr Pepper Snapple Group is a shining example of what NACS members—both retailers and suppliers—do for their communities, both in what they give back in time or resources for those in need,” said Armour at the playground build. “We are honored and humbled to work with our partners here today to give back to the local community that will host our conference next month, and to all of our members who serve their local communities every single day.”
The playground was built at John Milner Park in East Point, a community in the Atlanta metro area. Milner grew up in East Point and was a major league baseball player from 1971 to 1982. He began his career with the New York Mets, and later played for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates team that won the World Series.
“If there was one moment to sum up the experience, it was when we were scurrying to finish by 3:00 pm and a school bus drove by with the neighborhood kids screaming with joy,” said Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives, who also participated in the construction. “It was a very cool, unexpected moment, but it showed why our industry is involved with communities—it’s about the people whose lives we help make a little bit better.”
NACS has a history of community involvement, including building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Orlando, Florida; Columbus, Georgia; and Hammond, Indiana. Lenard pointed out that the recent playground build isn’t the only Atlanta-based community event for NACS this year. “There will be an announcement ahead of the Show about another community initiative,” he said.
