It was announced on Monday that the Duluth Heritage Sports Center will get a new football field thanks in part to a $200,000 grant from the National Football League Grassroots Program.
The grant, awarded by the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL Youth Football Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), is part of $5.43 million in field refurbishment awards allocated this year to community groups in areas surrounding the 32 NFL markets.
“The Vikings are pleased that the Boys and Girls Club of Duluth will receive funds for a new field, providing a safe place for children to get active and play,” said Lester Bagley, Vikings Vice President of Public Affairs.
The NFL Grassroots Program, a partnership between the league 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 ten years, the NFL Youth Football Fund has granted over $20 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.
“Fields are an integral part of creating viable and healthy communities,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who also is a member of LISC’s national board of directors. “The development and refurbishment of these football fields gives youngsters across the country a safe place to play the game, and brings families and neighborhoods together.”
The multi-use Duluth Heritage Sports Center, currently under construction, will house the Boys and Girls Club Outreach Center and a sports floor area. Youth from throughout the city will have the opportunity to participate in junior league teams, and local school districts will have access to the fields for practice and games. The sports center, in the impoverished Lincoln Park neighborhood, is expected to serve as the cornerstone for private investment in the area.
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.
“These fields are a critical part of our efforts to create sustainable communities – places where people want to live, work and raise families,” said Michael Rubinger, LISC’s president and CEO.
“Through its contributions, the Youth Football Fund is clearly making neighborhoods better and stronger.”
Starkey Hearing Mission
On Wednesday, June 11, Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf and All-Pro offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson will participate in the Starkey Hearing Mission, an event that will kick-off the weekend-long “So the World May Hear” Awards Gala Festivities.
Through this local mission, which is being sponsored by local philanthropists Brad and Janet Anderson and Petters Group Worldwide, 175 Minnesota children, many of whom have never heard before, will be fitted with state-of-the-art digital hearing instruments. Governor Tim Pawlenty will provide remarks on the work of the Starkey Hearing Foundation during the mission.
Minnesota Wild Owner Craig Leipold, Minnesota Timberwolves President Chris Wright and many others will also be on hand at the event. Additional Starkey Hearing Foundation “So the World May Hear” Awards Gala weekend festivities include the star-studded Awards Gala on Saturday evening, which Vikings players Brooks Bollinger, Jeff Dugan, Hutchinson and Garrett Mills will attend.
Founded in 1984, the Starkey Hearing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization dedicated to giving the gift of hearing to the world. Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers and donors, the Foundation delivers between 20,000 and 50,000 hearing instruments annually worldwide. Since 2000, the Foundation has donated more than 255,000 hearing instruments to those in need.
To learn more about the Starkey Hearing Foundation or any of the 2008 “So the World May Hear” Awards Gala events, visit www.sotheworldmayhear.org.