More than 200 volunteers build kid-designed playground at Waxahachie Family YMCA

Waxahachie kids have a new place to play, and they helped design it. More than 200 volunteers gathered at the Waxahachie Family YMCA to build a new playground on what had been an empty site.

The project started on July 21 with a KABOOM! Design Day Workshop at the Y. Children, families and other residents came out to shape the design. Kids drew their dream playgrounds and joined in activities, and then adults reviewed playground concepts, gave feedback and started planning the build. According to a Foresters Financial news release, KABOOM! used the children's drawings to help develop the final design.

The YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, the nonprofit KABOOM! and Foresters Financial partnered on the playground. The work was scheduled as a community build from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, with hundreds of volunteers expected on the final day to finish the playground and celebrate. The release says volunteers from Foresters Financial, PHP Agency, KABOOM! and the Waxahachie community worked side by side to complete the build in one day.

The playground was designed so children of different abilities can play together. It includes ramps, play features at ground level and an accessible glider. Foresters says this is the 180th playground it has helped build with KABOOM!.

"A playground will not solve every challenge a child faces, but it gives them another place to spend their time, move their bodies, use their imaginations and connect with each other," KABOOM! CEO Lysa Ratliff said in the release. Jon McLaughlin of the Waxahachie Family YMCA also explained to CBS News Texas how the playground came together.

This story is based on original reporting by the Waxahachie Sun, with additional details from a Foresters Financial news release, CBS News Texas and Hoodline.