For the past 13 years, the Academy has built and donated safe, accessible playgrounds in each of the AAOS Annual Meeting host cities. In 2013, the build will take place at the Faith Community of Saint Sabina in the Auburn-Gresham community of Chicago on Tuesday, March 19.

The playground build, in partnership with KaBoom!, provides an opportunity for orthopaedic surgeons, industry, and allied healthcare partners to visibly support playground safety and give something back to the community. Build day begins at approximately 8:00 a.m. and finishes with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Buses will run between McCormick Place and the build site several times on Build Day. More detailed information will be sent to registered volunteers as Build Day approaches.

Even if you can only give a few hours of your time, you can still be a part of this effort so that children with and without disabilities can play safely together. No experience is needed, and seasoned project managers will be on-site to oversee the build.

Join us for a day of working hard, playing hard, and celebrating an experience you will remember. Site beautification, clean up, and other rewarding projects also are available and suitable for volunteers of all ages and abilities.

Bring a group
Are several members of your large practice attending the Annual Meeting? If so, get your partners, staff, and others to volunteer as a group. In the past, large groups have identified themselves with their own t-shirts, jackets, or hats. This project is a great team-building activity.

If your schedule doesn’t permit you to help on the day of the build, sponsorship opportunities still are available. Any dollar amount you can donate goes to fund the 2013 or subsequent AAOS playground builds.

Register as a 2013 Build Day volunteer online at aaos.org/playground, or contact Pat Julitz at 847-384-4036 or julitz@aaos.org

The award goes to….
Giving back to the community with the playground build project is just one of the ways you can be involved with the Communications Cabinet. Another way is to nominate consumer orthopaedic media stories for the Media Orthopaedic Reporting Excellence (MORE) Awards. The MORE Awards recognize journalists who write, report, or produce accurate health stories focused on musculoskeletal conditions.

As orthopaedic surgeons, we all have had patients who come into our offices with inaccurate health information. Identifying journalists who accurately cover the orthopaedic specialty helps the AAOS engage and develop positive relationships with them. In turn, these reporters write more stories on orthopaedic topics.

Have you recently read or seen a remarkable story that accurately furthers public understanding of bone and joint health? Share the link to that story by emailing media@aaos.org and staff will contact the reporter for more information.

Many AAOS members speak with reporters from their local television station or community newspaper about the orthopaedic field. If you have been quoted or featured in an accurate consumer health news story about orthopaedics, we want to include that story in the 2013 MORE Award competition. Entries will be accepted until Oct. 15, 2012.

The MORE Awards recognize excellence in furthering the public understanding of musculoskeletal health and issues and encourage the healthy behaviors in the care of bones, joints, and muscles. Winners are from print, broadcast, and online news outlets and receive a crystal MORE Award statue. They are also invited to an awards ceremony, held during the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. Next year’s ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 2, 2013.

Michael F. Schafer, MD, chairs the AAOS Communications Cabinet. He can be reached at mschafer@nmff.org

Additional Resources:
The full list of 2012 MORE Award winners
The video of last year’s ceremony is on the Academy’s YouTube channel.

2013 Safe and Accessible Playground Build Sponsors
(As of Aug. 16, 2012)

Platinum
Illinois Bone and Joint Institute
Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush

Gold
DePuy’s Synthes, companies of Johnson & Johnson

Silver
Alexandra’s Playground
Arthrex
Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America

Bronze
American Society of Orthopaedic Physician’s Assistants
Association of Residency Coordinators in Orthopaedic Surgery
Bonutti Technologies
DJO Global
Sandra Gordon & David Leibowitz
Greatbatch Medical
HangItUp Chicago, LLC
Dr. Stephen & Sonny Hurst
Dr. Joshua & Faye Jacobs
Dr. Frank & Lawson Kelly
Bill & Pam Kolter
Orchid Orthopedic Solutions
Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board
Paragon Medical, Inc.
Rush University Medical Center
Dr. Michael & Eileen Schafer
Symmetry Medical, Inc.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
Dr. Edward & Eva Toriello