| | A Place To Play
 by Caroline Mack
any of the greatest contributions to society have grown out of one person's frustration with a particular situation. It is always wonderful when people gain passion for things that really should be common place, but find so often they are not. What is even more remarkable, is how that frustration can drive one or two people to make a difference for a community, and perhaps a whole country. And in this case, the frustration eventually led to a place to play for many children with disabilities.
This is how the story of Play USA began eleven years ago. A frustrated Scott Saunders went on a search for a wood play set for his then three year old son. He found nothing really accommodating, so he and his wife Kimberly made a decision to help make such items readily available. After many hours of research and finally finding and visiting the manufacturer they believed to have the best equipment, they were asked to become dealers and sell the products themselves. Thus Swings-N-Things was born.
A 200 square foot self-storage unit was the initial home of the company. Scott was still employed full time for IBM, so he sold and installed the equipment in the evenings and on weekends. In 1990, the family moved to Charlotte, NC with IBM, and in 1991 Swings-N-Things followed. The business operated on a part time basis until 1994. During that year, Scott left IBM and began to concentrate on the business full time. This led to major changes. They increased the floor space of the business by 700% and introduced its new concept of an indoor playground/showroom.
In 1997, the name of the company changed to Play USA. It now boasts five residential and seven commercial lines of play systems. The company designs and constructs its own line of custom projects out of traditional steel, economical wood and maintenance free recycled plastic materials. Residential systems are built from redwood, cedar, pine or recycled plastic raw materials.
Saunders enjoys seeing the smiles and listening to the laughter of small children playing on his products. "Our goal is to build memories that last." Play USA does creates special sets or products for individual children. He says, "As you can imagine, it makes a parent feel good when their disabled child is able to play alongside other able bodied children in their own backyard.”
Play USA offers swings with a body torso support, so children with a disability can enjoy the freedom of swinging. It offers ADA accessible ramps to get children to and from their play sets. In addition to adaptable swings, there are elevated sand tables, and toys. There are also a variety of surfacing options to help parents complete their accessible play ground project.
“Our local staff does visit with our clients in their homes and commercial locations to look at the proposed location of the play ground equipment. Our dealers do the same things. Our goal is to be the premiere playground equipment company in the country," Saunders says. In 1998, the company was recognized by the United States Chamber of Commerce, as one of its Blue Chip Enterprise Award winners. Saunders says his company will continue to provide children with disabilities with accessible places to play.
Visit their website at www.playusaonline.com for more information.
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