Parade of Playhouses decorates NorthPark mall for charity

by PegNews wire

The little tyke's playhouses, built and donated by architects, are on display today through August 23.

You'll be entered into the SmartCar garage playhouse drawing if you buy $50 worth of tickets.

Dallas CASA’s 13th annual Parade of Playhouses, sponsored by ORIX USA Corporation, will take place at NorthPark Center August 7 - 23, 2009. Proceeds will benefit Dallas CASA, an organization of volunteers who help connect abused and neglected children to safe homes.

The 2009 ORIX Parade of Playhouses will feature 14 artfully crafted children’s playhouses, all designed by local architects, designers, and corporations. These playhouses will be on display at NorthPark Center and raffled off to the public at the conclusion of the exhibit. The special raffle this year is a custom-built "garage playhouse," which houses a blue SmartCar donated by Rick and Diana Strauss, along with a children’s toy car.

To get involved in the raffle, tickets are $5 each, or 5 for $20. For $50, you can get a special entry for the SmartCar garage playhouse raffle. The drawing will take place during the closing ceremony at 4 p.m. August 23. Winners do not need to be present to win.

“This amazing event gives children who come to NorthPark Center a chance to win some incredibly creative playhouses,” said Beverly Levy, executive director for Dallas CASA. “At the same time, it gives abused and neglected children a powerful voice and a better chance of finding safe, permanent homes where they can thrive.”

In addition to the SmartCar garage playhouse, other imaginative playhouses on display include:

Here's the cutesy cottage-style house.

● A western sheriff’s office with jail cell, front porch and hitching post

● A battle tank playhouse containing a driver’s console, port holes and hatched turret

● A mission control playhouse with maps and charts

● A minimalistic art studio playhouse with Japanese aesthetic inspired by the ancient Taoist scholar Laotse

● A magical wardrobe playhouse with full-length mirror, vanity, and dress-up clothes

● And a cottage style house.

“This is the fourth year that ORIX has sponsored the Parade of Playhouses event. As a Dallas-based company, we’re very proud to support CASA in its campaign to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children. We really hope the community will come out to see the event and help us make 2009 our most successful year yet,” says Jim Thompson, president and CEO of ORIX USA Corporation.

Throughout the year, more than 3,000 children in Dallas County live in protective care waiting for the courts to decide where they can safely live. Dallas CASA currently serves only a third of these children, but the organization has plans to double the number of children served over the next few years. The annual Parade of Playhouses raises awareness and funds for Dallas CASA to recruit, train, and supervise more community volunteers who advocate for these children in court. CASA volunteers will be on-hand during the Parade of the Playhouses at NorthPark Center to provide information about becoming a CASA volunteer.

About the SmartCar garage playhouse

The SmartCar Garage Playhouse is functional as a compact covered out-building for a wide variety of the owner’s needs, such as a tool shop, gardening shed or children’s playhouse. The open-air playhouse features two sliding doors that allow the owner to dynamically change the interior space based on the activity. The building’s exterior materials were chosen to bring an aesthetic to the project that is reminiscent of small purposeful agrarian buildings with exposed wood framing, corrugated metal roofing, and sliding barn doors. The colors were selected for their vibrancy and their ability to brighten any environment.

"Mission control" playhouse for the maps-and-charts kind of kid

Builders providing the playhouses are: Behringer Harvard, Buford Builders Incorporated, Butscher Construction, Dallas CASA Children’s Council with Jeff A. Green, Erin Nicole Parisi, James E. Manning Architect with McCarthy Construction, Jarratt Graham of Graham Residential, The Heights at Park Lane, Heritage Homestead, Lockheed Martin Vaught Heritage Management Association, ORIX USA Corporation, Pioneer Natural Resources with David Verrett of Backyard Mansions, The Sherwin-Williams Company, SmartCenter Dallas, Winstead, PC and Waterford Construction Company.

Major Sponsors include: ORIX USA Corporation, NorthPark Center, Pioneer Natural Resources, Mark and Fran Berg, Kona Grill, Southwest Airlines, The Heights at Park Lane, Boston Pizza Restaurants, Smart Center Dallas, The Sherwin-Williams Co., Suzanne and Bert Bryan, David Droppo, Susie Germany, Dave Perry Miller Homes, Carolyn and Denton Newham, Neiman Marcus, Pinto Ranch, Bernbaum Magadini, Geldmeier Fence & Deck, Lowe’s, Thomas Reprographics, and Wil Thompson Company

For more information about the event and to purchase tickets online, visit www.dallascasaplayhouses.org.

Source: Dallas CASA; posted by Sarah