BY STEVE RAMOS

Photo By Jymi Bolden

Thousand Hands parks, like this one in Roselawn, do wonders for local neighborhoods and volunteer workers alike.

Ask Little Johnny what summer means, and you'll hear familiar answers. Summer is Rocket Popsicles bought from neighborhood ice cream trucks. It's hot afternoons spent in cool water, whether at a backyard pool, a local swim club or a trip to Coney Island.

Basically, in a child's eyes, summer is play.

The life-in-the-big-city challenge facing many Cincinnati children is finding that perfect playground with curvy slides, bouncing bridges, outstretched monkey bars and a cushy surface to protect inevitable falls. In many city neighborhoods, unfortunately, a good playground is far from a child's reach.

That's why so many people are giving back to the community through the Thousand Hands Project, where volunteers come together to build state-of-the-art playgrounds where none existed before.

"We like to do projects that involve schools and children, and the Thousand Hands playgrounds enable us to do both," says Zack Zitko, director of communications for Give Back Cincinnati, a social volunteer group that's helped at a number of Thousand Hands events. "Most of our members are young, between the ages of 20 and 40, and they like projects that are physical and outdoors. I know that the Thousand Hands people have a hard time getting volunteers to work the Friday night shifts. Our Give Back Cincinnati filled that shift, working through the rain to help build the Price Hill playground.

"It's a great way for our members to meet people from all across Cincinnati and, at the same time, give something back to the community."

These volunteer hands got busy in Price Hill. They also built Thousand Hands playgrounds in Mount Washington, Northside and Roselawn.

As expected, it takes more than the "thousand hands" to get the job done. In fact, 2,000 pairs of volunteer hands are often needed for each playground project. For the Price Hill playground at 3300 Guerley Road in the Dunham Recreation Complex, more than 2,000 volunteers came together over five days to build a 12,000-sq.-ft. playground.

The crews are true rainbow coalitions. Volunteers from charitable groups like United Way/Community Chest, People Who Work Cooperatively and Give Back Cincinnati are frequent participants. Northside Greenspace Inc., Price Will and other neighborhood activist groups also take part.

Cincinnati's corporate business community steps up to the sandbox, too. There are makeshift carpenters and construction workers from Cinergy to the Network of Indian Professionals in Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati Recreation Commission and its board members are the facilitators who make it all happen, choosing sites for future Thousand Hands playgrounds. The CRC also supplies a good percentage of the funds, adding to monies collected from private individuals and local companies. Schoolchildren even collect loose change for the playgrounds.

Money matters with these type of construction projects, since a Thousand Hands playground can cost as much as $200,000. Local materials like mulch, lumber and sand often are donated. Still, a lot of the supplies need to be purchased. When it comes to building a new playground, a volunteer without a hammer in his hand isn't a good volunteer.

This summer, more Cincinnati business leaders plan to exchange their corporate attire for work boots and blue jeans. With additional hands, these volunteer crews envision a Cincinnati where corner lots filled with patchy concrete and rundown monkey bars will be replaced with Thousand Hands playgrounds.

Building a Thousand Hands playground has been compared to an old-fashioned barn raising, but there's nothing old-fashioned about helping children and giving back to one's community.

Sweat is part of the volunteer's hard work. A child's thanks is the result of their handiwork. ©

E-mail Steve Ramos

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