MEDIA CONTACT - Fairmount Park Conservancy

MEDIA CONTACT: Francesca Gunning
215-825-9624
fgunning@levlane.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GMC AND UNITED WAY BUILD NEW PLAYGROUND IN HUNTING PARK WITH THE
HELP OF VOLUNTEERS
Local partners JAWS Youth Fund, Fairmont Park Conservancy, and Philadelphia Parks &
Recreation Partner to Encourage Healthy Lifestyles for Youth
(From left to right) City of Philadelphia Mayor Michael
Nutter helped assemble Hunting Park’s new
playground with State Representative Tony Payton.
Neighborhood kids enjoyed the new United Way
Healthy Kids Zone- Driven by GMC after the
playground build on Friday, November 4 th .
(From left to right) Former Philadelphia Eagle Ron Jaworski gave a pep talk to a young park steward
Joseph Fisher during the Hunting Park Playground Build led by GMC and United Way.
PHILADELPHIA (November 8, 2011) -- On Friday, November 4, GMC and United Way were
joined by Hunting Park United, JAWS Youth Playbook, Fairmount Park Conservancy and
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to build a United Way Healthy Kids Zone-Driven by GMC. Over
50 volunteers and a few celebrity builders including City of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and
former Philadelphia Eagles players Ron Jaworski, Vince Papale, Mike Mamula and Fred Barnett
helped build a playground to provide a place for children to play in the North Philadelphia
community.

The new playground is a component of the Hunting Park Revitalization Project, led by
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Fairmount Park Conservancy, which is aimed at creating
a safe and well-maintained park space that will provide a place for healthy recreation for children
and families, bring neighbors together and serve as a catalyst for a larger neighborhood renewal.
“We want to make sure that every acre in Hunting Park is being utilized and every amenity is a
positive and safe resource for the community,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, Executive Director of the
Fairmount Park Conservancy. “Parks have the ability to provide positive change to neighborhoods
and the people that inhabit them. It’s critical that we make Hunting park an excellent and healthy
resource for the community and this playground is another step in the right direction.”
At the event, attended by the mayor, representatives from these partner organizations spoke to
encourage healthy lifestyles for youth and promote volunteerism to benefit the local community.
Emceeing the event was former Philadelphia Eagle Ron Jaworski, Chairman of Jaws Youth
Playbook.
“GMC recognizes how important it is to create new opportunities for young people to have a safe
place for recreation, allowing them to lead healthier lifestyles,” said Craig Bierley, GMC
Advertising and Sales Promotion director. “By working with United Way, GMC is helping make
communities stronger.”
This is the sixth of nine playground builds led by GMC and United Way, taking place in NFL
markets across the country as part of the GMC Monday Night Football tour.
“Volunteerism is at the heart of United Way’s mission. Our unique role in the community allows us
to mobilize businesses, organizations and individuals to help address community-level needs,”
said Jill Michal, President & CEO of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. “Today is an
incredible example of that work in action – this gift from GMC provided an opportunity for these
partners to come together and make a difference in the Hunting Park community.”
The playground equipment in Hunting Park was funded by GMC and supplied by GameTime.
Volunteers from local GMC dealer FC Kerbeck in Pennsauken, NJ, also helped build the
playground in Philadelphia.
To view photos from the event, please visit the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Flickr
site: http://bit.ly/vUD0YR or visit http://www.jawsyouthplaybook.org/HuntingPark.html. A photo
video from the event can be found on YouTube at http://bit.ly/ulKi0v.
About United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania is part of a national network of more than 1,300 locally governed
organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and in people’s lives. United Way
engages the community to identify the underlying causes of the most significant local issues, develops
strategies and pulls together financial and human resources to address them, and measure the results.
United Way is advancing the common good in southeastern Pennsylvania by focusing on education for
children, income for families and health for seniors. For more information about United Way, please visit:
www.LIVEUNITEDsepa.org.
About GMC
GMC has manufactured trucks since 1902, and is one of the industry's healthiest brands. Innovation and
engineering excellence is built into all GMC vehicles and the brand is evolving to offer more fuel-efficient
trucks and crossovers, including the Terrain smaller SUV and Acadia crossover. GMC is the only
manufacturer to offer three full-size hybrid trucks with the Yukon, Yukon Denali SUVs and the Sierra pickup.
The new Sierra Heavy Duty pickups are the most capable and powerful trucks in the market. Details on all
GMC models are available at www.gmc.com, on Twitter at @thisisgmc or at http://www.facebook.com/gmc.
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About JAWS Youth Playbook
Jaws Youth Playbook (JYP) was founded by former Philadelphia Eagle and ESPN Monday Night Football
booth announcer Ron Jaworski. JYP’s (JawsYouthPlaybook.org) works to improve the overall health and
wellness of at-risk youth in the Greater Philadelphia Region.
About The Fairmount Park Conservancy
The Fairmount Park Conservancy enhances the quality of life of the Greater Philadelphia region through the
financial and programmatic support of projects throughout the Fairmount Park system. In partnership with
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Philadelphia community, the Fairmount Park Conservancy has
raised more than $20 million for capital improvements and innovative programming. Since 2001, the
Conservancy has spearheaded many signature projects including the $8 million restoration of the Fairmount
Park Water Works South Garden and Cliffside Path, revitalization of 13 neighborhood parks through the
Growing the Neighborhood initiative, expanded environmental education opportunities for more than 22,000
students, renovated Boxer’s Trail, helped manage the Fairmount Park Living History Fund to help preserve
the Fairmount Park system’s 200+ historic properties and more. The Conservancy is currently working to
revitalize North Philadelphia’s 87-acre Hunting Park. The Fairmount Park system covers more than 9,200
acres, includes a network of more than 60 neighborhood parks and is considered the nation’s largest urban
park system. For more information, please visit www.myphillypark.org. Find the Fairmount Park
Conservancy on Facebook and on Twitter @MyPhillyPark.
Hunting Park Revitalization Project supporters include Cindy and John Affleck; Citizens Bank; City of
Philadelphia; The Honorable Darrell L. Clarke; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Convergence Partnership
of the Tides Foundation; KaBOOM!; Patricia Kind; Laura and Marc McKenna; McLean Contributionship;
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation; Pennsylvania State Representative Tony Payton; The Honorable Maria
Quinones-Sanchez; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; The Ryan Howard Family Foundation; NFL
Grassroots/LISC; United States Tennis Association; Edith R. Dixon; Dorrance H. Hamilton 99 Charitable
Trust; FMC Corporation; Energy Coordinating Agency; and our Growing the Neighborhood sponsors ACE
Group; MedRisk; NovaCare Rehabilitation; The Philadelphia Foundation - Alfred J. Lofgren & Antoinette
Farrar Seymour Donor-Advised Fund; PRWT Services, Inc.; TD Bank Foundation; and U.S. Facilities, Inc.