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McKinney playgrounds moved to international homes

City officials partnered with a Texas-based program to send retired playground structures to three countries.

MCKINNEY, Texas — A North Texas city found a way to make their mark around the world by donating retired parts of its local playgrounds.

The City of McKinney announced that they've partnered with Houston-based Project Playground to send playground parts that've been removed from seven parks:

City officials said the playground structure removed from Fitzhugh Park was installed at an elementary school in Zambia earlier this year. About 1,400 children are now enjoying that playground along with five bay swings that came from Fitzhugh and McKissick.

Kids in Zambia are one of three groups across the world that will have parks from McKinney. The playground structure from Eubanks Park is set to head to Romania, and the structure and swings from Finch Park are going to Botswana.

McKinney officials said the old play structures are refurbished before they're sent overseas.

“Part of our mission as the Parks and Recreation Department is to connect people to spaces that allow them to build strong relationships, improve overall wellbeing, and foster inclusiveness. This is a tangible way we can use our resources to do that not just in McKinney, but in another part of the world,” said Michael Kowski, Director of Parks and Recreation.

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