The last weekend before training camp is usually a good time for players to rest and recuperate before the grueling NBA season. However, for the Washington Wizards Antawn Jamison, his last Saturday consisted of getting up early and doing what he does best, giving back to the community. With the help of 250 volunteers, Jamison teamed up with Kool-Aid and KaBOOM! -- a national non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America -- to build a new state of the art and safe playground at Park Southern Neighborhood Corporation. Jamison along with volunteers from the Wizards, Kool-Aid, KaBOOM! and other members of the community started building the playground from the ground up at 9:30 a.m. and put together the finishing touches at 3:30p.m.

"My favorite part is when you first get out here all you see is dirt and holes," said Jamison. "But then you start adding pieces to the puzzle. After 15-20 minutes one piece goes up, and 15 minutes later another piece goes up. It's just seeing the transformation from a dirt area to something that will be a special place for the kids to play in."

The build was Jamison's third with KaBOOM! and his second since becoming a KaBOOM! All-Star Playmaker - an extension of the Playmaker Network consisting of national leaders and celebrities who take action for play on behalf of KaBOOM!, while promoting the importance of play. The Jamison and KaBOOM! relationship originally began after Jamison was named to the All-Star team in February. While attending All-Star Weekend, Jamison helped build a new KaBOOM! playground on February 15th in New Orleans in conjunction with the NBA-All Star Weekend. After seeing the impact KaBOOM! had in New Orleans, Jamison reached out to KaBOOM! in hopes of building playgrounds in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana and Washington D.C.

"It's been a good relationship. We started off at the All-Star Game, it was the first time that I had seen KaBOOM! and I just really liked the idea of giving kids the opportunity to play and have a good time. We sat down and had a couple of meetings and it has really taken off. A couple of weeks ago we did a build down in Louisiana and that went really well. Now we are in D.C. and it's just a great relationship and I look forward to more playground builds with KaBOOM!. I really appreciate KaBOOM! and giving kids the opportunity to be kids and have a good time. Anytime you can put smiles on kids' faces I'm always down for it."

The smiles could be seen on not only the kids' faces, but the adults as well. After struggling the past several years with a broken down playground and pool, the Park Southern Apartments were turned around in one afternoon, and President of the Board of Directors for Park Southern, Joyce Scott, believes Saturday was the start of the rebuilding process for the neighborhood.

"I was so excited when I found out we were going to have this playground built. We have been through so much and this whole back area had been down for the last 3 1/2 years. The pool was dirty, the playground was raggedy. We had bugs and filth back here. But now it's turning around and 2008 is a new beginning for us. Our playground hasn't been used in years because it was so broke down. We needed this, our kids needed this and then to have the superstar, Antawn Jamison here with us just made it even more amazing. The kids have been excited all week long and I couldn't even sleep last night. This has been a blessing and we've worked so hard. We've been through a lot and I am so happy we were selected."

The event was also a milestone for KaBOOM! The Washington D.C. playground was one of five playgrounds being built on Saturday including playgrounds in Chicago, Gulfport (Miss.), Miami, Pittsburgh and Washington D.C., extending the total number of KaBOOM! playspaces built in North America past 1,500 since the inception of KaBOOM! in 1995. Combined, these 1,500 playspaces annually serve more than 750,000 children.

To learn more about KaBOOM! and how you can become involved, visit their website at KaBOOM.org.