Making an impact: Stars Foundation partners build playground at local community center

The Dallas Stars Foundation and its partners strive to help make the world a better place, and one of the benefits of that is getting to see the results of the work.

One such example is a new playground for the Wesley-Rankin Community Center in Dallas. Both Energy Transfer and Child’s Play, Inc. commit to charitable projects every year, and last year the Foundation helped connect them with Wesley-Rankin. The trio completely rebuilt the playground facility at the center, reigniting a sense of play and community for the entire neighborhood.

“We serve an area that naturally likes to come together and play and be festive, so when things like this happen in our neighborhood, it excites us at a different level,” said Shellie Ross, the CEO of Wesley-Rankin. “This playground is for the people of West Dallas and to watch people come together and celebrate that, it’s a great feeling.”

Ross said the old playground was smaller and mostly brown and gray. It didn’t really have an energy to it. The new one, she said, is bright and inviting.

“We even had a student who said her favorite part of that week was getting ‘the new park,’ that’s what she called it, the new park,” Ross said. “So students see it as more than just an after school playground, it is a place for families to play.”

Child’s Play, Inc. has built playgrounds in 27 different countries, including a great many in North Texas. Owner Jay Robertson said he loves visiting the playgrounds they have installed to see them in action.

“I do that quite a bit,” he said. “I drive by our projects and see the kids playing, and it is an amazing feeling.”

Executives from Energy Transfer were on hand at the unveiling of the Wesley-Rankin playground and said the experience of working with local neighborhoods is particularly rewarding. The Dallas-based energy company gives more than $7 million a year in charitable donations, but there is something special about getting to see the positive impact of this work on the face of the children as they laugh and play.

“As a Dallas-based company, it’s important to us to be an involved member of our community,” said Lisa Coleman, Public Relations Manager for Energy Transfer, the official home helmet sponsor for the Stars. “Partnering with such a recognizable sports team is a fun way to do that outreach, particularly with children. There’s an extra joy and excitement when you’re working with kids. We have many long-standing commitments as a company to helping children in need, particularly with food insecurity, education, health, and providing a safe space for them to play. We want to make sure these kids have the resources they need to thrive.”

Energy Transfer also supports Mercy Street in West Dallas where they built soccer fields and provide annual funding, totaling $260,000 in 2023. Some of their other youth-focused partnerships in Dallas include Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Readers 2 Leaders, Jonathan’s Place, Share the Shoes, and the Texas Rangers Foundation. Coleman said working with children is a fun part of the job.

“Dallas is a big city and we’re just trying to do our part,” she said of the annual playground projects they complete with the Stars. “We’re excited to do another build this year.”

Ross requested a playground design that would really push the kids to use their energy at Wesley-Rankin Community Center. The new playground has a small slide and a large swing, but the real centerpiece is a big slide with a rock wall and a climbing net.

“We requested things that made our students physically active rather than just sitting down on something,” she said. “So going up to this large slide is a beautiful rock wall and they have these kinds of hanging netting areas where students can climb up. So to get to the slide is quite a feat. You’ve got to really work at it and then you get to slide down.”

Robertson said his company has found that kids want the challenge.

“The net is very, very physical,” he said. “You don’t realize how much it strengthens your core muscles, so it’s a good thing.”

And a good thing for years to come. One of the best parts of the initiatives is that the investment is for one year, but the legacy can last for decades.

“That playground will be here long after I’m gone, so the impact can last a long time,” Robertson said.

Ross said families in the area have strong roots and can be members of the neighborhood for generations.

“I’m in my 14th year and I’m starting to see people we graduated from here have their own kids, so it’s like generation after generation coming through here,” Ross said. “And that becomes a part of the stories they hand down about the memories they’ve had here. It’s beautiful.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.