THE LA84 FOUNDATION & THE PLAY EQUITY FUND LAUNCH PLAY DAY – UPLIFTING THE VALUE OF PLAY AND SPORTS TO CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY WELL-BEING
Milestone Event To Be Celebrated At LA Live And Across Communities On Social Media
LOS ANGELES (Aug. 5, 2021) – The LA84 Foundation and the Play Equity Fund are launching Play Day on Saturday, August 28, on West Road at LA Live. Members of the media are encouraged to join this outdoors event from 11am to 4pm, which for its introduction in 2021 has a more limited capacity of 250 youth attending by invitation to adhere to local health and safety protocols.
A milestone annual event debuting this year in Los Angeles and aiming to become established nationally, Play Day uplifts the importance of play and sports for kids and communities. It centers the essential role that healthy activity, play and movement have in supporting positive childhood development and community well-being.
Play Day will celebrate kids, families, youth-serving organizations, schools, communities and partners who support the critical role that organized sports and play programs have in benefiting young lives. LA Lakers great and Play Equity Movement advocate Michael Cooper will serve as the host of Play Day and introduce activities and other guests. Cooper was a member of five Lakers championship teams.
“As schools reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, building strong connections between those who support healthy activities for young people has never been more important,” said Renata Simril, President & CEO of the LA84 Foundation. “Play Day elevates the critical need for kids to experience the joy of childhood through healthy activities. Sports and play provides that outlet with lifelong benefits. We all recognize now more than ever how crucial this is with the current health crisis affecting every community. Our goal is to create partnerships for shared impact as we build access and opportunities so collectively we can support more kids.”
At LA Live, Play Day will feature fun activities, giveaways and individual stations for youth with partners in the Play Equity Movement. These include Angel City Football Club, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, LAFC, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation’s Science of Baseball program, the LA Kings, the Los Angeles Rams, the LA Sparks, Science of Sport, Playworks and the Southern California Junior Golf Association (SCGA) Junior Golf Foundation. An In-N-Out Burger truck will be on site for lunch, Reyes Bottling will provide refreshments and DJ Mal-Ski, the official DJ of the LA Sparks, will provide music.
With COVID-19 protocols limiting Play Day participation to invitation-only for kids at LA Live in 2021, the spirit of the event will also be celebrated widely on social media.
By using the hashtags #PlayDay21 and #PlayEquityMovement – and tagging the @LA84Foundation or @PlayEquityFund – families, communities and organizations are encouraged to share images or video of themselves participating in a variety of healthy activities or sports with kids on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Activities could include playing on a court, field, in the water, on wheels, in a rink or backyard – anything to illustrate youth joining in on the fun of playing, of sports or participating in sports programs.
While the LA84 Foundation and the Play Equity Fund launch this event in downtown Los Angeles with children, partners and friends, the goal is for Play Day to spread across the nation and create a collective annual experience for many based on participating in playing. Play Day is positioned to become a joyful moment on the calendar each year where kids, families, sports organizations, communities and supporters celebrate the value together of play and sports for young people.
ABOUT THE LA84 FOUNDATION
The LA84 Foundation is a nationally recognized leader in support of youth sport and public education about the role of sports in positive youth development. For more than 35 years, the LA84 Foundation has supported thousands of youth sports organizations in Southern California through grant making, funding facilities and fields of play, while also training coaches, commissioning research, convening conferences and serving as a national thought leader on issues in youth sports. The LA84 Foundation levels the playing field to ensure all youth have access and opportunity, regardless of income, gender or ability, while elevating youth sports as an integral pathway to lifelong well-being. To learn more, visit www.la84.org and @LA84Foundation on Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT THE PLAY EQUITY FUND
A 501(c)3 public charity, the Play Equity Fund was established by the LA84 Foundation in 2014 as its charitable partner and supports programs and actions to ensure all children have equal access to the transformative power of sport and structured play. The Play Equity Fund supports the sports-based youth development ecosystem for greater impact, raises awareness of inequities and develops partnerships to advocate for funding and sustainable solutions to ensure children in communities of color have access to pathways for lifelong well-being. The Play Equity Fund is the only nonprofit focused solely on Play Equity as a social justice issue. To learn more, visit www.PlayEquityFund.org and follow @PlayEquityFund on Twitter and Instagram.