Fort Worth, TX — Both the Kindness Duck Project (KDP) and Building Wishes are excited to
announce the approval of first steps in the Uvalde Memorial Park Project by Uvalde’s City
Council Tuesday evening. Operating out of the Fort Worth/North Texas area, both organizations
continue to expand their scope of building a better future for others through kindness.
Raised in Uvalde, Kyle Wagner, Executor Director of KDP, has seen the Uvalde community
persevere through thick and thin. However, the May 24, 2022 mass shooting at Robb
Elementary School “…was and still is a different level,” says Wagner. “This is a pain no one
should endure, and many families’ lives have been changed forever.”
KDP started a fundraiser the evening of May 24th to raise money to send to hospitals directly to help pay for Robb-related
medical bills. When the opportunity to team up with Building Wishes arose, KDP jumped at the
opportunity to create a project that would simultaneously honor the victims and their families,
while giving the entire community a shining light in darker times. “What the people, community,
and families need right now is love. Love. Care. Kindness. Anything. Everything,” says Wagner.
Tuesday evening, the City Council granted Building Wishes and KDP the opportunity to move
forward with surveying and preliminary engineering work so that they can work toward providing
those very things.
Originally known as ‘The Grove,’ Uvalde Memorial Park sits on roughly ten acres of city
property. Officially renamed and dedicated on November 11, 1927, Uvalde Memorial Park has
seen numerous additions and alterations, though the greater park area’s significance and usage
in downtown Uvalde simultaneously has waned over time. Building Wishes and KDP hope to
uniquely honor the victims of the Robb tragedy as ‘pillars of the community’ while creating a
bridge to a path forward for Uvalde by providing a large, diverse, and inclusive area for the
community to gather, play, celebrate, and remember.
“Building Wishes is beyond honored and excited to be a part of the Uvalde Memorial Park
redesign and construction,” says Brian Grossman, Executive Director of Building Wishes. “We
truly believe this park will be a light in the community and a place that families, citizens, and
visitors can build memories for decades to come.” Building Wishes and KDP hope that Uvalde
Memorial Park will be a place to promote light and life through play and gathering, learning and
art, in the past, present, and future. “Kindness is the agenda. Nothing else,” says Wagner. “We
have teamed up with strategic nonprofit partners, such as A Memory Grows, to help us carry out
this expansive, yet delicate, vision. Now, we are asking others – foundations, nonprofits,
corporations, groups, families, even individuals – to join us in giving Uvalde something to bridge
the past, present, and future together.”
About the Organizations
Growing from a 35-year-old commercial-design build firm, Building Wishes builds things for the
good of others by bringing safe, accessible playsets and playhouses to kids facing tremendous
obstacles. Partnering with amazing companies and other nonprofits, Building Wishes allows
them to be part of something so much bigger than themselves to make a difference. Since its
inception, the now 501(c)(3) nonprofit has built over 50 playhouses for children and their
families and is currently working on the first Make-A-Wish All Abilities Park in Glenn Heights,
TX. Learn more at: www.buildingwishes.org
The Kindness Duck Project began with a vision to teach children about kindness by leaving little
rubber ‘Kindness Ducks’ as mementos for recipients, who would then, in turn, pass along new
random acts of kindness. The #KindnessDuck movement grew and is now a certified 501(c)(3)
nonprofit. Their mission is simple — Plant Kindness, Grow Kindness, Share Kindness. Their
goal — to promote kindness in as many ways and to as many people as possible! Learn more
at: www.kindnessduck.com
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit based out of Fort Worth, TX, A Memory Grows provides retreats and
special events for parents whose children have died. Founded by DeAndrea Dare and Aaron
Graham as a legacy to their son Max, their core belief is that the love between a parent and child never dies. The mission of A Memory Grows is to provide a safe space of healing and
peace for parents by bringing together those who have experienced a similar loss. Love never
dies, love always carries on. Learn more at: www.amemorygrows.org
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