NFL Report Highlights LISC Partnership

6 Jan 2008

NFL

"Fields are an integral part of creating viable and healthy communities"

--NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

In the Winter Super Bowl edition of the NFL Report, the National Football League highlights its 10 year partnership with LISC to build playing fields in underserved neighborhoods nationwide. The partnership was celebrated at an event in New York at Harlem River Park ball fields where football players, community residents and neighborhood leaders joined LISC to honor Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL for its $20 million in grants over the past decade to renovate old football fields and build new ones. Their contribution has leveraged $58 million in funding from private and public sources. “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,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

LISC and the NFL, through The Grassroots Program has provided financial and technical assistance to a variety of nonprofit neighborhood-based organizations and middle and high schools in approximately 40 cities across the country. Through this partnership, LISC ensures that the capital improvements to renovate older fields and establish new ones have a stream of maintenance funds and the community support needed to sustain long-term use. The program not only provides recreational opportunities for children in underserved neighborhoods, it also acts as a catalyst for the redevelopment of those communities. In 2007, the Youth Football Fund increased its annual contribution to the Grassroots Program to $5 million.

“Community revitalization is measured by more than construction cranes and concrete and we applaud the NFL for recognizing the impact that football fields have on local communities,” said LISC President and CEO Michael Rubinger. “Public spaces such as this football field in Harlem are critical to the health of every community and the future of its children. The NFL Grassroots Program is a model for how private and public resources can be applied to a necessary aspect of neighborhood development.”

For More Information

> NFL Report - Winter 2007 (PDF, 335 KB)

> Press Release - Harlem Event Honoring NFL

> NFL Youth Football Fund Grassroots Program - Program Summary (PDF, 805 KB)

> LISC Youth and Recreation Program

Article Type: News