Regis and Kelly Help Rebuild Elementary School

Slides, swings and other things were on tap for Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, hosts of Live with Regis and Kelly. The two hosts spent part of Monday helping rebuild an elementary school playground in New Orleans, damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The hosts’ charity continues a trend, as Rachael Ray recently announced lending her talents to the Great American Bake Sale.

Live will spend the middle part of the week Tuesday through Thursday, in the Big Easy. The duo’s dynamic playground work will be featured on Wednesday’s program when students, volunteers and our hosts unveil the “Live with Regis and Kelly Playground.”

Regis and Kelly, along with a group of volunteers affiliated with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit group dedicated to creating play spaces for children, set to work at Charles Drew Elementary School in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood. The new playground will replace a slab of cracked asphalt and two basketball backboards.

Drew Elementary sustained significant flooding and damage from Katrina, and as a result the students and staff were displaced for well over a year. The school re-opened in October 2006. It was the first school in the hurricane impact zone to reopen, and remains the only open elementary school in the Bywater neighborhood.

Tuesday on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’:

• Emeril Lagasse
• Kyle Busch
• Pete Fountain