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Matt, Savannah to 'Shine a Light' on giving kids safe places to play

Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie will help give kids safe places to play as part of TODAY’s Shine a Light project, a year-long initiative through which our anchors will support worthy causes. Matt and Savannah will help convert an abandoned lot into a playground, working to help provide secure locations for kids to exercise both their bodies and their imaginations."Recess was my favorite subject

Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie will help give kids safe places to play as part of TODAY’s Shine a Light project, a year-long initiative through which our anchors will support worthy causes. 

Matt and Savannah will help convert an abandoned lot into a playground, working to help provide secure locations for kids to exercise both their bodies and their imaginations.

"Recess was my favorite subject in school. I loved to go outside and run around. And I can't imagine growing up and not being able to sit on a swing set and take flight," Savannah said. "I would love to do something that brought joy to kids who have too little of it." 

Our co-anchors will team up with communities to renovate an abandoned area and build a playground.

"I want to take what is perhaps an eyesore in that neighborhood — a vacant lot, you know, broken bottles, rocks, graffiti — and I want a community to get motivated ... After it's been transformed from rubble, I want to be there as we swing that gate open for the first time," Matt said.

Why is this cause important? Sixty-nine percent of low-income parents say there is no playground in their neighborhoods, and children in neighborhoods without a park are 26 percent more likely to be obese.

Track Matt and Savannah's progress on our Shine a Light TODAY Facebook page. And tell us on social media how you're pitching in, using the hashtag #ShineALight. 

Get involved! Tell TODAY here if you know an area that you think would benefit from a playground.