Playground structures removed from two Minnesota parks at the end of June will be refurbished and shipped overseas by Kids Around the World, a nonprofit that restores used play equipment for children in disadvantaged countries. The organization has placed about 360 playgrounds to more than 50 nations on five continents, including this 2012 installation in Thailand.
Photo: Kids Around the World

Fourteen volunteers from Wayzata Evangelical Free Church in Plymouth, Minn., dismantled the two play sets in nearby Brooklyn Park, aided by a city worker who used a tractor and chains to yank jungle gym footings out of the ground. The volunteers cut support poles at the base and dismantled the slides, bridges and climbing equipment. The two playground sets will be repaired and painted, and are expected to last another 15 years at their new location.

Kids Around the World (Kids) is a Christian organization that installs secondhand playgrounds in underprivileged nations. Since 1994, the Rockford, Ill., nonprofit has worked with charities, churches, companies and individuals who want to donate playgrounds abroad, Kids board member and volunteer leader Paul Bierhaus told the Star-Tribune. Donors pay about 20 percent of the cost of a new play set to install a restored playground in another country, and can choose from a catalog of available play sets, ranging from $7,000 to $20,000.

The organization has an annual budget exceeding $3.3 million, with paid staff in California and Rockford, where it has storage and repair facilities. Before 2010, Kids only bought and installed new playground sets, which cost $50,000 or more. About 100 new sets were installed over 15 years, ending up anywhere from states hit by Hurricane Katrina to cities in Ukraine, Asia and Central and South America.

After a city park director suggested that Kids try working with used playgrounds, the group's work expanded significantly, and since 2010, Kids has installed about 260 used sets in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean Islands
and Africa.