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Football Fields
In June 2003, youth from Charlotte’s West Corridor, and YMCA leaders joined Carolina Panthers President Mark Richardson at the West Boulevard Public Library for a groundbreaking ceremony to initiate the construction of new youth football fields.
The field was funded by a $100,000 gift as part of the NFL Grassroots Initiative. The NFL Grassroots Initiative is a joint venture between the NFL and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s leading community development support organization. LISC and the NFL identify local nonprofit neighborhood-based agencies and provide them with financing and technical assistance to construct football fields in their local schools and parks. The nonprofit groups then oversee the construction, maintenance and programming of the fields.
“Since 1988, the NFL Grassroots Initiative has provided more than $7 million in grant funding and helped community organizations rebuild 88 football fields in more than 40 hard-pressed urban neighborhoods across America,” said Beverly Smith, Senior Program Officer at LISC. “Access to quality recreational facilities is an essential part of that effort. Healthy neighborhoods need safe and stable places where children can play.”
“Breaking ground on these fields is exciting for the YMCA and our partners, the Carolina Panthers, NFL Charities and LISC,” said Jeff Brown, one of the original co-chairs of the West Boulevard YMCA Board of Managers. “The fields are the first recreational construction project on the Y’s West Corridor property. It will be rewarding to see youth from the West Corridor playing and learning on these fields.”
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