In what resembled an Amish barn-raising, it only took six hours for more than 400 volunteers to build a playground, paint an old convent and peeling walls plus lay down grassy sod at Ascension School in South Los Angeles on Dec. 2. But all agreed that the ramifications of this heroic community event for the urban school and parish will last for years, if not decades.

"It's a place where children will be able to be in a safe atmosphere --- a safe place to play," said principal Karen Kallay. "It's going to help out with physical education. We're going to be able to help the children grow not only academically and morally, but also physically. The playground will improve their motor as well as social skills. And in the grassy area with picnic tables and benches, children will be able to sit out there and read books."

Father Humberto Bernabe, Ascension's pastor, agreed. He was up at 4 o'clock on Saturday, too emotional to sleep.

"We were just very excited to see the playground go up," he said. "It's going to be a gathering area and playground. The beautiful plants and tables will help the community to experience a sense of home community. A place where they can come in without worrying about being shot --- a very safe, safe, place."

No gathering place
The project started about 18 months ago at the school, where 80 percent of the 235 mostly Latino students receive financial aid for tuition. The principal and pastor decided something had to be done about the fact that the children had no outdoor place to play except on the asphalt parking lot and churchgoers had no place to gather after overflowing weekend masses.

After a lot of research, they found out about KaBOOM! --- a national nonprofit organization with the lofty mission of providing a "great place to play" within walking distance of every child in America. School development director Steven McCann wrote a proposal. And the Washington, D.C.-based organization offered Ascension a grant through one of its corporate partners, Foresters, a faternal, not-for-profit, international financial service company that's supported charities and families since 1874.

"Kids actually draw pictures of their dream playground," explained Meg Keaney, KaBOOM! project manager. "The playground we're building today is actually based on the drawings that the kids drew. So there's no other playground like this anywhere. It's one of a kind."

The unique playground features twisting purple "slither" slides with a "wobbly wheels" bridge connecting slides to decks. The most adventurous students can climb rock walls to the bridge, taking a shortcut to the slides. Running behind the school is also a line of yellow climbing bars arranged like some Marine boot camp obstacle course. The ground has a thick layer of sawdust for soft landings.

But KaBOOM! has also brightened up the entire schoolyard with an overhanging shade trellis, two wood planter boxes, four picnic tables --- along with fresh paint and landscaping, including a newly laid sod yard beside the playground.

Standing guard over all this is an ancient Oak, whose branches and leaves will provide plenty of shade on hot Southern California days.

"It's a place now where people can gravitate towards, and it happens to be right in the center of the campus," McCann told The Tidings. "We knocked down an old garage and wall to open up the area. And that tree! How many trees do you see like this in South Los Angeles?

"Our closest playground is only a quarter mile away, but it's so sad," he added, shaking his head. "It looks like something from a 'Dead-End Gang' movie. It's just got garbage everywhere. So we've been blessed. This summer the archdiocese, through some benefactors, did a number of renovations to the school. And this is kind of moving forward from there. There's definitely momentum here."

Volunteers step forward
Adolfo Espino, a sophomore at Loyola Marymount University, worked on the bridge for the playground. He got up early Saturday along with 49 other LMU students to help Ascension School, where he also tutors.

"At my school, we didn't have a playground, and I can see the community suffered," he said. "We didn't really go over there on weekends. But if we would have had a playground, definitely, it would have brought the community together so much. Because it just gives the kids somewhere to go."

Tom King from LMU's Center for Service and Action came along with the early rising students. He was impressed that they would volunteer right before the last week of semester classes, with papers due and finals looming.

"Obviously, doing the manual labor is important," King said. "But it's a great lesson on how we are a part of a community. And my hope is that when students have experiences like this they learn to give back. Because, hopefully, they have an appreciation of the privilege of what it is to get an education."

Jim Burgess, a 44-year-old trial lawyer and parishioner of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood, Ascension's sister parish, spent most of the day moving a mountain of sawdust to the playground and laying down sod. Monday in court, he expected to be pretty sore.

"To me, this isn't really about putting up a playground," Burgess pointed out. "It's about showing the kids that we care about them, and it's about showing that we believe in them."

Jose Gongora, 36, volunteered to paint the old convent building mainly because his seven-year-old son, Brandon, is a second-grader at Ascension School. "I know what the community needs around here, 'cause I live around here," he reported. "My son, he's real excited about that playground. The kids really need it, and we've got to do the changes around here."

One hundred and twenty-five members of Foresters, KaBOOM!'s funding partner, were at 111th Place and Figueroa Street on Saturday building, painting and planting. Jose Machado, the organization's managing director, also stressed that Foresters was trying to make a difference in the community.

"The most important thing is the kids planned this," he said. "That's beautiful."

At 2 p.m., after a lunch cooked by moms, proud students lined up behind their brick school holding a computer banner that read: "There's so much we can play and be safe as we play and have fun on our playground."

Then they entertained the hundreds of weary volunteers. Borrowing the tune of "It's a Small World," they sang out, "It's a blessing from God above; it's a blessing from God above. It's a playground after all. It's a dream come true."