The LA Galaxy and LA Galaxy Foundation visited the local Community Preparatory Academy in Carson for a Playworks Beautification Project on Wednesday, Feb. 7. As part of the event, LA Galaxy front office participated in a morning of community service at the local elementary school, improving Community Preparatory Academy’s school campus into a play space fit for its students.
On the playground, the LA Galaxy installed a tetherball pole, a four-square court, a wall ball court and privacy screens around the play area. Around the campus, Galaxy staff added plants to the school’s garden boxes and performed grounds work on the school’s campus.
“The kids were so excited to be with LA Galaxy today,” said Maisha Riley, Director of Community Preparatory Academy Carson. “We are excited about the transformation that LA Galaxy participated in. They transformed our playground into a space that’s more green and relatable for the kids. I think it’s going to be something that they remember for a very long time.”
LA Galaxy Foundation and Playworks launched their partnership in September 2017, when they put on a soccer clinic led by LA Galaxy defender Hugo Arellano at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Norwalk, Calif., Arellano’s hometown. As part of the partnership, the LA Galaxy agreed to donate $25,000 to Playworks for the 2017-18 school year, in addition to providing Adidas LA galaxy jerseys for Playworks’ youth soccer program.
The event marked the first of LA Galaxy Foundation’s “Galaxy Giving” initiative, a series of community service events connecting LA Galaxy players, alumni, staff, academy teams, alliance groups and fans with community service opportunities around Los Angeles. The next event in the “Galaxy Giving” series is “Read Across America Celebration,” in which the LA Galaxy Foundation will host a reading event for local elementary school students in honor of legendary children’s author Dr. Seuss. LA Galaxy Foundation’s “Read Across America Celebration will take place at StubHub Center on March 1.
Playworks is the leading nonprofit leveraging the power of play before, during, and after school to transform children’s physical and emotional health. Playworks currently serves more than 64 schools and reaches more than 65,000 students directly and through professional training services in Southern California. For more information, visit www.playworks.org/socal.
