PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new multipurpose outdoor hockey rink and recreation center is coming to the Kensington neighborhood. According to community leaders, the facility will be a safe haven for the community's youth.
The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation provides recreational, educational, and life enrichment programming to thousands of young people around the city. In a partnership with the foundation and Flyers Charities, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation will renovate the playground and build a new all-purpose sports wall at the Scanlon Recreation Center.
Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez of Kensington said the project is an opportunity to expand those services in the area.
"We have to be cheerleaders around the resiliency and the young people who thrive despite the challenges that we have in the community. Creating a safe haven at a time with all those challenges is so very important," she said.
Virlen Reyes was 13 years old when she was introduced to Ed Snider Youth Hockey.
"I know firsthand just how much Snider Hockey has impacted my community. Snider Hockey has been an amazing influence in my life. I have a sense of them being there as a constant presence, as a safe haven and ultimately a second home," she shared.
The West Chester graduate is one of the thousands of young people who have been impacted by the foundation. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell said more lives in the Kensington area will be changed by the Scanlon renovation project.
"This is about how we build incredible human beings and how we lift up communities. This is about an investment in public space, and investment in the future and potential of this community," she said.
"Public spaces go so far beyond the physical investment ... this is a time when more than ever we need great public spaces."
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