Two Sandies dominated national news in the last quarter of 2012: Hurricane Sandy, which pummeled the entire Atlantic seaboard in late October with the most significant damage in New Jersey and New York, and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in mid-December, which claimed 26 lives in Newtown, Connecticut. With both catastrophic events occurring in the tri-state area within just a few short weeks, many local residents felt at a loss for how to respond.

Bill Lavin, president of the New Jersey State Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association (NJSFMBA), felt this helplessness in the wake of the double disasters. “With these two tragedies occurring so close together, our firefighters and our communities were stunned and overwhelmed,” he says.

A call from a Mississippi businessman reminded Lavin of how the NJSFMBA had helped support the rebuilding of playgrounds following Hurricane Katrina. That was the spark he needed. “I thought if we could build playgrounds, we could honor the victims while helping to rebuild our communities,” Lavin says.

With that thought, the Sandy Ground Project was born. The goal of the project is to construct or rehabilitate 26 playgrounds in the tri-state area, each dedicated to a victim of Sandy Hook. But these are not cookie-cutter playgrounds. “Each playground is designed to reflect the personality of the victim,” Lavin says. That is why Emilie Parker’s park has so much shade, Jack Pinto’s has a football theme and Chase Kowalski’s has fitness stations. “The families wanted to celebrate the lives of their loved ones, and we wanted to honor that,” he says.

It is because of this commitment to honor that all 26 families have agreed to participate in the project. And they get a huge say in each design — from location to playground elements. “Our only criteria are that the family has some connection to the location and that the community accepts it,” Lavin says.

Having community involvement has been a key element to the success of the project. “In addition to Giordano Contracting, our main construction and on-the-ground partner, we have worked with dozens of partners on each playground,” Lavin says. Those partners range from schools to foundations to private businesses to park and recreation agencies. “We have found absolute enthusiasm from the park and recreation departments,” he continues. “They have been phenomenal partners.”

According to Lavin, the total project will cost around $3 million, and they have a goal of completing the last one by the anniversary of Sandy Hook. “It is an aggressive goal,” he admits. “But when families come up to me and say that the park dedication was the best day they have had since December 14, it makes all the effort worthwhile.”



Peter Magnusonis NRPA's Director of Marketing.