Founding story

37-months-01-202x300Alexandra’s Playground was founded to commemorate the very special life of our daughter, Alexandra, whose beautiful life ended tragically in an accident while in a sailing school in 2008. Recognizing the void left by all the ways in which Alex would have impacted the World, my wife Andrea and I founded Alexandra’s Playground. Embracing Alex’s spirit of play, we chose to focus our efforts to support opportunities for safe, active play throughout childhood. Unfortunately, opportunites for active play are increasingly threatened in our society. As a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, I understand very well that the loss of these play opportunities have negative social, emotional and physical effects on a child’s development. We seek to change this by building playgrounds in areas of need, supporting programs that encourage safe active play, and raising awareness about these issues.

Dr. Michael Vitale, MD, MPH
Co-Founder Alexandra’s Playground