North Camden children help design new playground

More than 200 volunteers spent eight hours Saturday building a dream playground in Northgate Park for the North Camden neighborhood children.

The playground was build by KaBoom!, a national nonprofit promoting play for children, with the help of various local organizations such as Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, Cooper's Ferry Partnership and the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties.

The new playground, which was designed with input from some neighborhood children, features a "slither slide" and a swing set. The 3,600-square-foot playground will serve more than 1,500 children, according to those involved in the project.

On Tuesday, park workers were continuing to fill the playground area with soil and put other finishing touches.

Though neither KaBoom nor the other organizations would disclose the cost of the playground, they said each organization contributed some money and other resources, such as work hours.

KaBoom's website states that to be eligible for a playground project, a city must be able to "raise and contribute $8,500 to $10,000 cash toward the cost of equipment," along with providing the land for the playground and more than 100 community volunteers to help build the playground.