Educational Testing Service Donates $5000 for Playgrounds

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Princeton, N.J. (April 1, 2009) —

Educational Testing Service (ETS) is donating $5,000 to the Hopewell Borough Playground Project (HBPP) — a grassroots effort to build two new playgrounds in Hopewell Borough at "Gazebo Park" and the historic train station, company officials announced today.

The proposed Hopewell playgrounds, designed by Leathers & Associates of Ithaca, N.Y., will be unique gathering places for the entire Hopewell Valley community where children can play outdoors on playground equipment that is creative, interactive, safe and accessible for all abilities.

"This donation is greatly appreciated because it raises our total funds to $55,000 or approximately 50 percent of our budget,” says Annette Murphy, HBPP Fundraising Coordinator. “ETS joins the list of other generous, large donors— Bristol Myers Squibb, Music Together, Hopewell Harvest Fair, and others for whom we are very grateful!"

The new Hopewell Borough playgrounds are scheduled for construction on June 17–21, 2009. As in an old fashioned barn raising, hundreds of volunteers of all ages and skill levels are needed to work side-by-side to build the playgrounds, with guidance from volunteer construction captains and the playground designers. Food and childcare will be provided.

"With 'Build Week' rapidly approaching, we are in urgent need of volunteers to sign up. Please visit our website at www.hopewellplayground.com and fill out the online form. No construction skills are necessary," says Michelle Brennan, HBPP General Coordinator.

In addition to volunteers, the playground project needs to raise another $50,000 by May 2009. Donations are tax deductible through a partnership with the MOM's Club of Titusville/Hopewell. There are many ways to donate: online via PayPal at www.hopewellplayground.com, sponsor a component of playground equipment, buy playground project merchandise, order a personalized fence picket, or hand paint a ceramic tile to be installed at the new playgrounds. You can also send checks payable to the "MOM's Club of Titusville/Hopewell" P.O. Box 234, Hopewell, NJ 08525.

“The mission of ETS is to advance quality and equity in education,” says Eleanor Horne, Vice President of ETS’s Social Investment Fund. “Community playgrounds play an important role in fulfilling this mission because they promote learning through play. They help develop the ‘whole child’ physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.”

For more information about the Hopewell Borough Playground Project, visit www.hopewellplayground.com.

About ETS

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® test and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.