Martin Luther King, Jr. Park at the corner of Harbour Way South and Cutting Boulevard, adjacent to Nystrom School, is already the recipient of a $2.5 million Murray Hayden Grant from California State parks to be used to rehabilitate facilities. The Oakland Raider’s grant will augment that.

Raiders Grant Helps Local Park

June 3, 2009

 http://www.raiders.com/Common/Article.aspx?id=64178

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NFL/LISC GRASSROOTS PROGRAM AND OAKLAND RAIDERS GRANT $200,000 FOR
INSTALLATION OF ARTIFICIAL TURF AT MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. PARK

RICHMOND, CA  (June 3, 2009) – The Richmond Children’s Foundation, and its partners, the City of Richmond and the Association of Sports Field Users will receive a $200,000 grant from The Oakland Raiders as part of the National Football League Grassroots Program, it was announced today.

The grant, awarded by the Raiders, the NFL Youth Football Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), is part of the NFL Grassroots Program awards. It will be used to install artificial turf at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park football field.  This new football field will be at the heart of the Nystrom United Revitalization Effort (NURVE), a community effort to revitalize the Nystrom neighborhood.  The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center and Park is the primary community facility that serves numerous youth in this area.  The football field will link two adjacent schools and will serve as the centerpiece of the neighborhood.

“It is our great pleasure to once again work with the NFL Grassroots Program to provide a place for the community to engage in outdoor activity,” said Chief Executive Amy Trask. 

The NFL Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and LISC, the nation’s leading community development support corporation, has resulted in the construction or renovation of 170 football fields nationwide in the past decade. In the last 11 years, the NFL Youth Football Fund has granted over $25 million to revitalize playing fields in underserved neighborhoods. Fields are newly built or significantly renovated, with improvements such as irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards, goal posts and turf.  Grassroots grants are issued once established funding thresholds are reached for each project.

“These fields help us make an impact where assistance is most needed and provide a tangible sign of our Youth Football Fund in action,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who also is a member of LISC’s national board of directors. “We are proud to support projects that give youngsters a safe place to play and bring families and neighborhoods together.”

LISC identifies local, nonprofit, neighborhood-based agencies which have an interest in building or refurbishing football fields in schools and parks in underserved neighborhoods. Through the program, the local agencies are provided with the necessary financing and technical assistance to improve the quality and safety of fields in their neighborhoods. The local agencies oversee the construction, maintenance and programming of the fields.

“At LISC, we are focused on helping distressed communities become good places to live, work, do business and raise families,” said Michael Rubinger, LISC president and CEO.  “We call it Building Sustainable Communities, and developing sound recreational opportunities is a key piece of our work.  The NFL has been a committed partner in helping make that happen.”

About the NFL Youth Football Fund
Established in 1998 by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, the NFL Youth Football Fund seeks to use football as a catalyst to promote positive youth development, support youth and high school football needs nationwide and also ensure the health of grassroots football in future generations. Through the YFF’s youth football initiatives and support programs, youngsters are provided with opportunities to learn the game of football, get physically fit and stay involved in productive after-school activities with adult mentors

About LISC
LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised more than $9 billion to build or rehab more than 244,000 affordable homes and develop 36 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. LISC support has leveraged nearly $28 billion in total development activity.  For more information, visit www.lisc.org.