By Tina Dirmann
BCBSLA Foundation Staff Writer
Last year, we posted a blog about the amazing success of the BREC on the Gueax mobile playground unit. The truck, jam-packed with active toys (footballs, Hula Hoops and jump ropes, to name a few) instantly turned any open field into a bustling playground. We were lucky enough to see the truck in action, as the kids at Ryan Elementary School in Baton Rouge gleefully embraced all the play offered to them, turning a recess period of standing around texting and talking into an action-packed-period-of-play.
And now, we are happy to report that the truck’s wild popularity motivated BREC leaders to use some of our Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana grant funds to create a second mobile playground unit. The truck was officially unveiled yesterday during a ribbon cutting ceremony.
“Of course, we wouldn’t be here today without the encouragement and faith of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation,” said Forrest Mills, president of the BREC Foundation, during yesterday’s ceremony. “This champion of healthy living believed that change could happen and that innovative collaborations could foster new pathways to the visions expressed by many…across our state.”
Indeed, just since the first truck went into motion (visiting low-income apartment complexes lacking park or playground facilities and rotating visits to local schools), some 32,000 kids and their parents have logged play time. And with the addition of the new truck, that number is expected to double, notes Diane Drake, BREC’s assistant director of evaluation and partnership.
This summer, for example, the trucks will be used to supplement summer camp service, essentially targeting kids who can’t afford to go to summer camp, she said.
That’s an amazing development since, in recent months, the single BREC on the Gueax truck has been unable to keep up with demand. Requests have poured in from schools and community leaders requesting the truck for all kinds of events — school physical fitness days, farmers markets, health fairs, even kid birthday parties and private company affairs.
“In my opinion,” Drake said, “this additional truck gives us that extra outreach. And for the kids, this isn’t just new playground equipment. It’s building new fitness skills.”
And it’s not just the kids feeling the impact, notes Cheryl Michelet, communications director for BREC: “The parents are out there, too! They get out and play with the kids, so it’s a double impact. That means a lot.”
Initially, Capital Area Pathways Project and Mobile Playground leaders (the Challenge Grant funded wellness initiative created by BREC, the park and recreation department for East Baton Rouge) thought there simply was not enough funding for a second truck. But when it became clear the project had an extra $17,500 in Challenge Grant funding available, the BREC Foundation matched those dollars with an extra $22,000 of its own, making the truck’s $38,000 price tag suddenly doable.
The program was also able to fund two more employees, dubbed recreation educators, to man each truck during visits (to direct new play ideas and actives and offer nutrition education). A slight raise in recreation educator salaries (from $8.50 to $13.50 an hour) has also created more stability in staffing, Drake said.
But will the new truck and staffers be enough to satisfy community demands for this very popular program? Maybe not! Since the new truck was announced, Drake said her office phone has been ringing off the hook, with four or five new requests for service coming in each day.
A community clamoring for more active play opportunities? You gotta love that. Perhaps it’s time to start saving our pennies for BREC on the Gueax III!
For BREC on the Geaux’s schedule, visit the the BREC.org site. And for a sampling of fun photos of our kids at play, check out the program’s Instagram site: instagram.com/breconthegeaux.
Currently, the two trucks rotate between five school campuses (Ryan, Buchannan, Claiborne, Merrydale and BRFLAIM) and several local park and apartment complexes.
A sampling of this summer’s schedule is below:
Purple Truck
2015 SUMMER SCHEDULE & ROUTE
JUNE 1-JULY 31
| Day | Time | Location |
| Monday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Monte Sano Village
3002 East Mason Ave. BR,LA 70805 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Zion Terrace Housing
5958 Cadillac St BR,LA 70811 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Monte Sano Park
2727 Greenwell St. BR,LA 70805 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Kerr Warren Park
4100 Geronimo St. BR,LA 70805 |
|
| Tuesday | 10:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Hartley Vey @Gardere
1702 Gardere Ln BR.LA 70810 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Hamilton Ave Park
16200 Hamilton Ave. BR,LA 70819 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Red Oaks Park
2100 Greenoaks Dr BR,LA 70815 |
|
| Wednesday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Roosevelt St. Park
1011 West Roosevelt BR,LA 70802 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Expressway Park
935 South 11th St. BR,LA 70802 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Duane Street Housing
1701 Duane St. BR,LA 70802 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Mary Lands Park
802 North 30th St. BR,LA 70802 |
|
| Thursday
ZACHARY |
11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Avenue F Park
Avenue F Zachary,LA 70791 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Rollins Rd. Park
5794 Rollins Road Zachary,LA 70791 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Thirty-Ninth Street Park
3451 Thirty-Ninth St. Zachary,LA 70791 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Reams Road Park
23223 Reams Rd. Zachary,LA 70791 |
|
| Friday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Evangeline Park
4201 Evangeline St. BR,LA 70805 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Kelly Terrace Housing
999 Rosenwald Road BR,LA 70807 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Scotland Villa Housing
10666 Scotland Ave. BR,LA 70807 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Elm Grove Apts
8770 Elm Grove Garden Dr. BR,LA 70807 |
Gold Truck
2015 SUMMER SCHEDULE & ROUTE
JUNE 1-JULY 31
| Day | Time | Location |
| Monday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Clarksdale Housing
801 Swan St. BR,LA 70807 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Wood Plaza Housing
9990 Avenue J BR,LA 70807 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Mills Ave Park
424 Woodpecker St. BR,LA 70807 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Hooper Road Park
6261 Guynell Dr. BR,LA 70811 |
|
| Tuesday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Howell Park
5509 Winbourne Ave BR,LA 70805 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | West Brookstown Park
4500 E. Brookstown Dr. BR,LA 70805 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | East Polk St. Park
1700 East Polk St. BR,LA 70802 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | St. Jean Apts
16441 S. Harrells Ferry Rd. BR,LA 70816 |
|
| Wednesday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Baker Park
4331 Jefferson St. Baker,LA 70714 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | South Magnolia Park
2409 South Magnolia Baker,LA 70714 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | 48th Street Park
628 N. 48th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Green Space @ the corner of Harry Drive and North Carrollton Ave. | |
| Thursday | 11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M | Tom Pete Narin Park
2800 Narin Dr BR,LA 70808 |
| 12:30 P.M.-1:30 P.M. | Capital Square Housing
700 North 17th Street BR,LA 70802 |
|
| 2:00 P.M-3:00 P.M. | Ardenwood Village
1957 North Ardenwood BR,LA 70806 |
|
| 3:30 P.M.-4:30 P.M. | Renaissance Apartments
650 North Ardenwood BR,LA 70806 |