By Debbie Adams
The congregation at Vinton Baptist Church has voted to partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of
Southwest Virginia (BGCSWVA) and KABOOM!, the national nonprofit “that works to end
play space inequity for good.”
Through a grant from KABOOM!, the church will be building a playground on a vacant lot they
own at the corner of Poplar Street and Washington Avenue, just across the street from the church
and behind Lotz Funeral Home.
Vinton Baptist houses a Boys & Girls Club program on afterschool weekdays during the school
year and all day during the summer. The church has a spacious gymnasium, but no playground.
Vinton Baptist Senior Pastor Travis Russell and members Andy Nicely and Mike Stovall were
interviewed by Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Angie Chewning on a
recent “Vinton Chatter” radio broadcast about their plans.
The church’s partnership with the Boys and Girls Club began during the COVID pandemic to
temporarily provide a learning environment for children who needed childcare while schools
were closed. After COVID restrictions eased and schools reopened, the BGCSWVA asked the
church to allow them to establish a permanent program at the church. That program now serves
56 children in grades K-5, mainly students from Herman L. Horn and W. E. Cundiff Elementary
Schools in Vinton.
Since then, KABOOM! reached out to the Boys and Girls Clubs as part of their initiative to
award grants to build eight playgrounds across the state of Virginia in 2023. The Boys and Girls
Clubs’ central location on Ninth Street in Roanoke City already has a playground so they
reached out to Vinton Baptist to apply for the grant—which they did with full support from the
congregation. Nicely says this is “an exciting project and the church voted unanimously to move
forward with it.”
Word came recently that the grant had been awarded to the Vinton Baptist site. A date has been
set for construction of the playground from October 25-27 (rain or shine). It will take dozens of
volunteers to unload the materials, assemble equipment, put the playground in place, shovel
rubberized mulch, and erect a fence around the playground. The new playground will serve
children ages 5-12.
has awarded a playground grant to Vinton Baptist and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest
Virginia. The playground is scheduled for construction from Oct. 25-27—a community build. (photo courtesy of KABOOM!)
The playground will be used by children at Vinton Baptist, from the Boys and Girls Club
program, and also children in the community. Russell says the project will help the church meet
its goals of fostering relationships, sharing God’s love, and building community.
Since it was founded in 1996, KABOOM! has “built or improved 17,000+ play spaces, engaged
more than 1.5 million community members and brought joy to over 11.5 million kids. We build
play spaces in partnership with child-serving nonprofits and municipal agencies.”
Each playground is custom-designed by kids and community members through an engaging and
fun process that culminates in a volunteer playground build day. KABOOM! wants the
playgrounds to be community-led projects built with their own local vision. Children in the Boys
and Girls Clubs program at Vinton Baptist, as well as their parents and the church congregation
will be asked to draw a design of what they envision the playground to look like and include.
Russell says that one advantage of the location of the new playground will be the plentiful
parking at Vinton Baptist just across the street. The church will partner with the town to add
crosswalks. The fence will be slatted on the Washington Avenue side for more privacy, and
Vinton Police will continue their patrols of the area as always.
Anyone interested in volunteering on construction days or making a financial donation to the
fencing and mulch, should contact the church at 540-343-7685.
