Toronto, ON, June 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Toronto community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at Glamorgan Park. In just six hours, more than 300 volunteers from Foresters Financial™, the City of Toronto, Agincourt Community Services Association, and the national non-profit KaBOOM! created the new playspace, which will serve more than 13,000 children and their families in the local community for years to come. 

"Foresters Financial has always been focused on our purpose – to enrich family and community well-being. We've been doing this for over 140 years, because helping is who we are," said Jim Boyle, President and CEO, Foresters Financial. "We are proud to partner with KaBOOM! on these builds that provide children with exciting new play areas and also give families the opportunity to spend quality time together." 

The design for the new playground is based on drawings created by neighborhood children at a special Design Day event held in April when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters Financial to design their dream playground. The drawings inspired the final playground design. 

Since 2006, Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! have built 154 beautiful play spaces across 93 cities in 31 states and provinces throughout North America and by the end of 2019, Foresters Financial will have funded more than 160 playgrounds. Thanks to the hard work of over 10,625 Foresters members, sales partners and guests for the last twelve years, Foresters is positively impacting the lives of more than 5.3 million children by providing them with access to play. Through each new playground, families are better able to spend quality time together right in their own neighborhoods, playing alongside Foresters members and community partners. 

"Projects like this bring the community together from start to end. The new equipment at Glamorgan Park will have a lasting impact on the children and families who will enjoy it for years to come. At the City of Toronto, we welcome opportunities to collaborate with the private sector and non-profits to deliver services and infrastructure important to our residents. Thank you to our local volunteers, KaBOOM!, Foresters Financial, Agincourt Community Services Association and our City staff for making this possible," said Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson, Chair Economic and Community Development, Councillor, Ward 21. 

Play is the business of childhood and is essential to the physical, cognitive, creative, social and emotional development of every kid. It’s how kids build strong muscles and healthy bodies; it’s how they learn problem-solving, conflict resolution and creativity; it’s how they make friends and build strong bonds with adults. Play is critical to a kid’s ability to thrive. 

Foresters Financial is a KaBOOM! Founding Partner and National Partner. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to ensuring that all kids get the balance and active play they need to thrive.

About the City of Toronto

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of more than 2.9 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/cityoftoronto, on Instagram at instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at facebook.com/cityofto. 

About Agincourt Community Services Association

ACSA is a non-profit, multi-service agency addressing needs and empowering children, youth, newcomers, homeless and underserved communities to build a better tomorrow. ACSA. Serving the community since 1974, ACSA has been committed to working with communities to ensure everyone has the opportunities they need in order to thrive, and ensuring children have access to safe spaces (including playgrounds) has been an important piece of this work. For more information, please visit www.agincourtcommunityservices.com 

About Foresters Financial

Since 1874, Foresters Financial has been providing socially responsible financial services to individuals and families. Foresters Financial includes The Independent Order of Foresters, the oldest non-denominational fraternal benefit society. Foresters is a purpose-driven organization that exists to enrich family and community well-being and offers insurance products to over three million members and clients in Canada, the US and the U.K. For 18 straight years, The Independent Order of Foresters has received an “A” (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best¹. For more information please visit foresters.com 

¹The A.M. Best rating assigned on August 2, 2018, reflects the overall strength and claims-paying ability of The Independent Order of Foresters (IOF) but does not apply to the performance of any non-IOF issued products. An “A” (Excellent) rating is assigned to companies that have a strong ability to meet their ongoing obligations to policyholders and have, on balance, excellent balance sheet strength, operating performance and business profile when compared to the standards established by A.M. Best Company. A.M. Best assigns ratings from A++ to F, A++ and A+ being superior ratings and A and A- being excellent ratings. See ambest.com for our latest rating.

About KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids – especially those living in poverty – the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to make play the easy choice and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000 playspaces, engaged more than 1.5 million volunteers and served over 9 million kids. To learn why play matters for all kids, visit kaboom.org and join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom, facebook.com/kaboom and instagram.com/kaboom. #playmatters #PLAYceforKids

 414828 CAN/US (04/19)

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CONTACT:

City of Toronto Parks Forestry & Recreation: Trena Cesario | 416-338-6792 | tcesario@toronto.ca

Foresters Financial: Greg Hubert | 416-429-3000 ext. 4044 | ghubert@foresters.com

KaBOOM!: Tamara Grider | 202-464-6196 | tgrider@kaboom.org