HKQ Kids Hires Playground Expert
To Assist in Coal Street Park Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 18, 2009 Contact: Sue Greenfield – (570) 287-3000 KINGSTON (March 12, 2009) – The Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn Fund for Children’s Advocacy, also known as HKQ Kids, has hired a nationally known playground safety expert to assist the City of Wilkes-Barre and the GOALS Foundation in developing a safe playground at the new Coal Street Park. Esther F. Grossman, president of Custom Playgrounds and Child Care Design Consultants Inc., Baltimore, Md., visited the Coal Street site on March 11 and reviewed playground plans with Attorney Joe Quinn of HKQ Kids, Wilkes-BarreMayor Tom Leighton and J.J. Murphy, city administrator and founder of the GOALS Foundation. She will submit a report to the city in the near future, which will recommend ways to ensure the  Nationally recognized playground safety expert Esther F. Grossman, second from left, discusses plans for the new Coal Street Park playground with, from left, City Administrator J.J. Murphy, whose  GOALS Foundation will fund the purchase of the playground equipment, Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton and Attorney Joe Quinn, founder of HKQ Kids - the Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn Fund for Children’s Advocacy.

“We are very pleased that the City of Wilkes-Barre and the GOALS Foundation accepted our offer to help make the new Coal Street Park playground as safe as possible for the children of our community,” said Attorney Joe Quinn, whose law firm founded HKQ Kids in 2005. “Ms. Grossman toured the site and reviewed the plans, and was very pleased by what she saw, but indicated she would be coming back with some substantive recommendations. We are looking forward to her report.”

Ms. Grossman has worked since the early 1980s as a consultant on playground design for various county and city park projects, private and public schools and universities, government and private child care centers, hospitals and communities in Maryland and throughout the United States. She has extensive knowledge and experience in child development, play equipment manufacturing, and the most current playground safety and accessibility guidelines and standards. Ms. Grossman has worked with several government agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission on their Public Playground Safety Guidelines since 1973, The Federal Access Board regarding accessible new and altered children’s facilities, and The American Society of Testing and Materials as a voting member since 1988.

The purchase of the Coal Street Park playground equipment, which is manufactured by George Ely Associates, Carlisle, is being funded by the GOALS (Giving Our Athletes Local Support) Foundation, which was established by Murphy while he was serving as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. The non-profit foundation, which helps youth sports programs raise money through community service projects, is administered by the Luzerne Foundation.

HKQ Kids was established in October 2005 by the law firm of Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn to promote child safety through community outreach and educational programs.

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