“I don’t know if there’s any way to show gratitude to the entire community, across the board. It wouldn’t have happened without that collaboration.”

Marc Recko was looking at what used to be a barren landscape in the Oakcrest housing complex in Washington and the many volunteers in the process of transforming the land into a playground for the neighborhood’s children.

Recko, head of Washington Housing Authority and Mid-East Regional Housing Authority, was one of those volunteers, along with representatives from the City of Washington and Beaufort County, police officers and sheriff’s deputies, neighborhood residents and others from many organizations pitching in to help build a playground.

It’s the second such playground built this year in Beaufort County by a collaboration between KaBOOM! playground designers and builders, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust’s Health Places NC initiative and community members intent on creating a safe place for children to play close to home. The first was built in Belhaven on October 26.

“Anything that’s for the kids, I’m more that willing to do,” said John Perez, an Oakcrest resident and father of three. “You can’t save the world, but if you can save a couple of children, at least you start a good trend.”

Perez was one volunteer lending a hand, among the many who turned out despite threatening weather. But Recko wasn’t surprised by the turnout; nor was Washington City Councilman William Pitt.

“Once the word gets out that you’re doing something in the community, people show up,” Pitt said. “(By showing up) you’re showing it’s not a dollar investment but a community investment. It shows that we are all one community.”

The work began at around 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Volunteers arrived at 8 a.m. and forces were motivated as volunteers were split into teams with specialized activities: building planter boxes and shelters, moving and piecing together playground equipment, building a sidewalk to the street, hanging swings and shoveling mulch.

The Oakcrest playground is number 2,404 built since the organization began planting playgrounds across the United States in 1996 and the sixth one in which they’ve collaborated with Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.

According to Koehler Briceno, KaBOOM! project manager for the build, the partnership with the Trust has created the opportunity to reach a more rural population.

“Kate B. Reynolds is one of the very few funders who will work in rural communities,” Briceno said. “This fits hand in hand with the Healthy Places initiative.”

Beaufort County was chosen as one of the first recipients of Trust funding as part of Healthy Places NC, an initiative that facilitates communities working together to promote healthier lifestyles.

Recko said that while there is plenty of credit to go around for the success of Saturday’s build, Oakcrest residents deserve to be recognized.

“I told them ‘It’s going to be a lot of work,’ and they jumped right on it,” Recko said. “This isn’t the Housing Authority’s playground. It’s the neighborhood’s playground.”