The Boys & Girls Club of Phillips County opened 2 years ago to meet the needs of young people in Phillips County Arkansas.  Located in the Arkansas Delta along the Mississippi River, Phillips County is the poorest county in Arkansas and one of the poorest in the country. This playground was built at the new Phillips County Boys and Girls Club which was a welcomed addition to this area.  This town has become economically and socially depressed after most of the employers closed up or left.  The Boys and Girls Club serves 250 members with an average of 95 kids attending each day.

There are two very segregated schools in town. The segregation and economic depression was apparent from the moment we hit town. The playground is located in the heart of the African American side of town.  The kids there were waiting for us with anticipation when we arrived.   The first day when the 200+ kids arrived after school, all they wanted to know was when their playground would be done. During our stay there, we could not find any usable playgrounds in that area.

This was our first project with a volunteer leading the build team.  Steve Van Scoy came along and jumped right in to lead a team of young men.  They accomplished the build in just 3 days.  Kyle Shaver, (son of Kids’s staffer Beth Shaver) came down from Michigan in order to be part of this team.  His engineering skills proved very beneficial to the project.  On Wed. night we completed our dedication and time of prayer and then watched as a gymnasium full of kids emptied onto the playground amid shouts of laughter and cheers!