A Community Creating A Kingdom
By Nathan Neyhouse
Whether you are a member of Youth Resources, work at Toyota or are part of a local sports team, individuals from all over the Evansville area are coming together to create a 20,000 square foot playground along the Evansville Riverfront. On Saturday, September 15th, 2018, around 100 Youth Resources’ students, parents, family members and board members united for the first All-YR Service Event with a common goal of helping to build Mickey’s Kingdom, a playground that will contribute to the expansion of this city for years to come.
To start off the day, hundreds of people representing different organizations split off into groups. The random selection of groups gave me a great opportunity to meet other people in the community as we worked collaboratively to establish the foundations of the playground. While watching my group and other groups in the lot, I noticed that each of the volunteers was given a specific job. Some people moved dirt and gravel in wheelbarrows while others carried large posts to place into holes in the ground. Volunteers also filled in the holes with dirt and gravel to lay the foundations for the playground. Everyone was working as a team. Each person’s sweat and hard work made building the playground much simpler.

YR students, including blogger Nathan Neyhouse (far right), giving back to the community at the Mickey’s Kingdom Build
Within three hours time, the lot was covered with stable posts sticking up out of the ground. The place is really starting to take shape and is looking more like a kingdom rather than an empty platform of concrete. Each person’s role in building the foundation for the playground paid off and showed significant progress.
This opportunity to volunteer and work with other groups in the community is one that everyone in Evansville should attempt. Organizers are looking for more people to give of their time as construction continues. So, sign up and help our community create a kingdom – Mickey’s Kingdom.
To learn more about Mickey’s Kingdom, click here.
You can check out more photos from the build by visiting the Mickey’s Kingdom Facebook page.
Photos taken during the All-YR service event can be found on YR’s Facebook page!
Nathan is a junior at Signature School and a member of the Teen Advisory Council’s MARCOM (Marketing/Communications) Committee. This is Nathan’s first year involved with YR.