After witnessing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, many were moved to help those in need. Professionals in the field of criminal justice joined others in sending food, supplies, money, their labor, and prayers. Two years after the storm there was still much left to be done. A small group of people who worked in Corrections gathered in the suite of the North American Wardens and Superintendents Association (NAAWS) to discuss how they could help. Officials from the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation (CPOF) also joined them. The idea was brought forth to take on a project to help the children impacted by Katrina. It was decided that our effort needed a name, and “Make-A-Smile” was born.

Many needs after a natural disaster are addressed by insurance, government assistance, FEMA, and people working together, but parks and playgrounds are way down on the list. In talking to people who lived in the Hurricane struck area of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, it was discovered that Sampson Park was ravaged by the storm and never reopened. As plans were being formulated to address Sampson Park, two additional sites were identified: a park in Bogalusa, Louisiana and a park in Moss Point, Mississippi. A huge fundraising effort was started by NAAWS with the assistance of CPOF, the American Correctional Association (ACA), Women Executives in Corrections (WEIC), and numerous other associations and groups. Through the help of people in the community, local correctional facilities, and volunteers from around the country, these three parks were rebuilt, new playgrounds were installed, picnic shelters were erected, grounds were enhanced, and parks reopened. Volunteers gave their time and talent to support this effort using their vacation time to do the work and their own resources to get to the work site. The park in Moss Point was renamed Clay Boyd Park to honor a Make-A-Smile volunteer who died of medical complications during the park reconstruction.When the work was completed and all three of the parks reopened, the smiles on the children’s faces and the appreciation of the parents was a great reward for everyone involved.

Based upon the success of this effort, the volunteers felt strongly that this should not be a singular event. A decision was made to attempt to assist another community in need of assistance due to the devastation of a natural disaster. In June of 2010, Make-A-Smile went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to rebuild and open Time Check Park that had been ravaged by flooding. Rebuilding of the park and surrounding homes had been placed on hold due to the area’s flood plane designation. Working with the Cedar Rapids Parks Department, AmeriCorps, and wonderful group of local corrections officials, once again people from across the country came together, raised money, volunteered their labor and installed new playground equipment, built a picnic shelter, a band stand, horse shoe pits, also restoring the park’s baseball field and basketball courts. As volunteers were rebuilding the park, adjacent flood damaged homes were still being torn down, but the strong spirit of those who lived in the community helped restore their park.

At the conclusion of the Iowa project, a serious discussion of the future of Make-A-Smile took place. It was decided that the corrections professionals involved in these efforts believed the group’s existence had merit and justified its continuance. In May of 2012, Make-A-Smile went to Nashville, Tennessee, where terrible flooding had devastated neighborhoods throughout the city. In an area where nine homes were destroyed, the city of Nashville set aside nine acres to build a new city park. Make-A-Smile worked with the County Sheriff, who shared his tremendous resources, and local community residents, to erect a playground, establish a walking path and green spaced that would become England Park. The park was named after an elderly couple, whose home was directly adjacent to the new park, who lost their lives during the flood. Make-A-Smile had so many volunteers, including over two hundred from Correction Corporation of America (CCA), that a second park was established with a new picnic shelter and a mile long walking path.

In October 2017, Make-A- Smile completed its most recent “rescue” of Higgins Park and playground in Lumberton, North Carolina. Lumberton is a small community that was devastated by Hurricane Matthew flood waters that swept through the community in October 2016.

In 2018 we went back to Louisiana to build and restore two parks that were affected by horrible flooding In Albany, two high school students organized the town into building a playground. After getting the land and building a shelter, the project was halted by the flood. Make A Smile went in with help from Albany’s Maintenance Crew and community volunteers and erected a new playground, built a new bathroom building, and installed equipment that was already purchased. Staying in Louisiana, we moved on to Clinton, Louisiana, where we restored old equipment, refurbished a bathroom/equipment building and installed a new playground. We always work with the community in designing, restoring and building their park.