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Play4Change Hopes to donate $1 million to Three Charities in the Next Five Years 09-09-15 | News

Themed Concepts Announces Play4Change, a Park and Playground Product Line to Benefit Children's Charities
Play4Change Hopes to donate $1 million to Three Charities in the Next Five Years

Themed Concepts, founded in 1971, is based in Forest Lake, Minn. Its play equipment, furniture, and decorations adorn thousands of amusement parks, restaurants, hotels, parks and shopping centers.

Custom products manufacturer Themed Concepts is partnering with three children's charities: Feed My Starving Children, Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, and Give Kids the World Village.

"Our line of products is a perfect fit with our charity partners' work with children," said Lisa-Marie Klooster, Themed Concepts director of marketing. "After working on the development of the Play4Change project for the past three and a half years, I am very proud to announce this philanthropic venture has finally come to fruition!"

"The Play4Change project is the only one of its kind, yet from day one it seemed like such an intuitive pairing of efforts," added co-owner and V.P. of Sales Kaarl Nasvik

Feed My Starving Children, founded in 1987, engages volunteers to prepare meals for children. The program services orphanages, schools and clinics in more than 70 countries. Nearly one million people have volunteered with the charity, producing some 230 million meals.

Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation https://bnteambear.org is among the groups who help support research that may one day eradicate pediatric cancer. Their Bear Hug program supports the physical, psychological and financial needs of children and their families. A Bear Hug is a customized experience that helps bring some joy into the lives of young cancer patients. The "Bear" in the name is in memory of eight-year-old Barrett "Bear" Krupa who died after a five and a half year battle with cancer. Prior to his death on Jan. 9, 1993, his mother, Kathleen Casey, planned the formation of Bear Necessities.

Give Kids the World www.givekidstheworld.org was founded in 1989 by holocaust survivor Henri Landwirth. Henri, born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1927 spent the years (between the ages of 13 and 18) in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Mauthausen. His parents did not survive the war, but his twin sister Margot did. Henri's mission is to provide memorable and cost-free experiences to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. He opened Give Kids The World Village in 1989, a nonprofit resort in Kissimmee, Florida. The 70-acre resort village has 144 villa accommodations, entertainment attractions and fun venues specifically designed for children with special needs. With the help of many generous people, corporations and partnering wish-granting organizations, Give Kids The World has welcomed more than 140,000 families from all 50 states and 75 countries. "We are blessed to be in this business, building cement frogs, trees, turtles, fossils, and everything else for kids to delight in," said Klooster. "In partnering with these organizations we get the unique opportunity to create value in every child's life. You can't eat a sculpture of a dinosaur, of course, but anyone who buys one of ours will be actively feeding the hungry, treating the sick and giving vacations to children who dearly need that hope."

With the mission to donate $1 million of its revenue to the three charities over the next five years, the Play4Change catalog will be available on September 15, 2015 at the NRPA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. The Play4change website www.play4change.org launched the first week of September. Themed Concepts, based in Forest Lake, Minn., was founded in 1971. The company excels in the art of simulating real stone and brick with glass fiber reinforced concrete. It has created GFRC play equipment and rock climbers for Landscape Structures and GameTime, along with many parks and playground organizations.