The award will help a Kiwanis club in Michigan, U.S., bring play to kids of all abilities.
Door Tony Knoderer
The Kiwanis Club of Lapeer, Michigan, U.S., has won the 2026 Legacy of Play Contest, sponsored by Kiwanis International and Landscape Structures Inc. As a result, the club will receive US$25,000 in inclusive playground equipment — and local children of all abilities will soon have an all-inclusive playground.
“We’re ecstatic!” club member Kara Lambourn says. “We were very pleasantly surprised, but we’ve been rooting for this — along with people in our community. This will be transformational for our project.”
The playground will be located in Rowden Park in Lapeer. (See the illustration above.) When it’s completed, it will fulfill an important need in the area: a space where everyone can play, learn and grow together.
Working toward such an important goal, the Lapeer club started the project by engaging people in the community — from potential partners and donors to the families who were intended as the beneficiaries of the playground.
“We started researching five or six years ago,” Lambourn says. “We held community focus groups and kind of determined what the community’s needs and wants were.”
In addition, the club has worked closely with the City of Lapeer to ensure that the playground’s design, location and long‑term vision align with the city’s goals. The result is a design for kids of all physical and developmental abilities — including those with sensory needs, autism spectrum disorders, cognitive disabilities and other developmental challenges.
With the $25,000 award, the club is much closer to its dream of creating an inclusive play space for all kids and families.
For Paul Palazzolo, executive director of Kiwanis International, the project is a perfect example of what Kiwanis clubs can do when they have a vision of what their communities need — and then work with partners in the community to make it happen.
“Making kids’ lives better is the heart of what Kiwanis clubs do,” Palazzolo says. “When members make sure that all kids in their communities are included in new opportunities, that’s a special outcome.”
The 2026 contest marked the 10th year of the Legacy of Play Contest — and for Karlye Emerson, president and CEO of Landscape Structures Inc., the Lapeer club’s winning project is what the contest is all about.
“The Kiwanis Club of Lapeer is creating a space where every child feels welcome and included,” Emerson says. “We’re proud to support their vision alongside Penchura, our local playground consultant, and help bring life-changing play to the Lapeer community.”