Kids and adults love going to the park! Many of us still remember our childhood days and memories we made with our family at our local city parks. Parks and playgrounds are an essential part of a child’s life and encourage social, cognitive and physical development. Our city parks offer a space where children and families can gather together and socialize within a community, and are also a great place for everyone to exercise together! We live beside one of the best kept secrets in Charleston: Suppa Field a.k.a. The Purple Playground!  I played on the baseball field as a young girl with Charleston Central Little League. My father and his brothers played on the same field, and according to family legend, actually hit some home runs that resulted in broken windows in the home my family purchased some 60 years later! Many in our community like to gather and picnic at Suppa Park. However, the park has not been adequately maintained or kept up to code. On several occasions, our local residents have purchased bags of mulch to spread under the playground equipment because the city neglected to supply it. The equipment is old, tired and in some cases even dangerous. We need to dramatically upgrade our playground equipment, basketball court, benches, and grill in order to make the park safer and more enjoyable. I want to help make sure all of our playgrounds are safe and accessible for children of all levels and abilities. Before we build more parks in Charleston, we need to take care of the ones we already have.