WASHINGTON — From now on, children at a family shelter in southeast Washington, D.C., may get a kick out of the fact that they are swinging and sliding where two of the country’s most famous children once played.
On Monday, as part of their move from the White House, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama personally donated to the shelter the play set they surprised their daughters with eight years ago, when the girls were 10 and 7.
Most of the families at the Jobs Have Priority Naylor Road Family Shelter are headed by young African-American women, according to the shelter’s website. The average family at the 28-apartment shelter has two to three young children, and many have at least one child with a mental, developmental or physical disability.
The Rainbow-brand structure, which has a plaque that says “Malia and Sasha’s Castle,” has a slide, a fort, a climbing wall and rope, three regular swings, a tire swing, and a picnic table etched with the names of all 44 presidents, according to Teen Vogue.