October 18, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Margaret Gee, Local Initiatives Support Corporation – 415-397-7322
San Francisco, California – October 20 at 11:00 a.m. - Representatives from San Francisco Unified School District, as well as Claude and Louise Rosenberg, Supervisor Fiona Ma and Bay Area Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) will celebrate with a dedication of the Rosenberg Stadium at Phillip and Sala Burton High School. The field will be used year round for athletics including football, softball, soccer, track and lacrosse, dramatically increasing recreational programs for students and neighborhood residents. Mr. Claude Rosenberg said, "When I first visited Burton High School, I saw an opportunity to make a real impact. These children deserve to know that San Francisco cares for them, and that people will invest in their school and their future. I want to give these students all of the opportunities they deserve." Interim Superintendent Gwen Chan said, "The students of Burton deserve a field of this caliber. I am so grateful to the generosity of the individuals and institutions that made this possible." The installation of a synthetic sports playing surface at Rosenberg Stadium was made possible thanks in part to a $200,000 grant from the National Football League (NFL) Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) that was facilitated by the San Francisco 49ers. The program, supported by the NFL Youth Football Fund through the teams and the NFL Players Association, not only provides recreational opportunities for children in underserved neighborhoods, but also acts as a catalyst for the redevelopment of those communities. Rosenberg Stadium is one of more than 100 fields nationwide that have been built or refurbished since 1998 through the Grassroots program. The NFL Grassroots Program is funded by the NFL Youth Football Fund, a $150-million program established by the NFL and the NFL Players Association to support youth football initiatives. Established in 1980, LISC is the nation's largest nonprofit supporter and funder of community development activities. With 25 years of proven strategies for investing and turning around high-risk neighborhoods, LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic assistance to provide community development corporations with the necessary resources to revitalize underserved communities creating good places to live, do business, work, play and raise families. LISC, a national community development support organization, identifies nonprofit neighborhood-based agencies which have an interest in refurbishing or building fields in underserved communities, and through the Grassroots Program provides financing and technical assistance to improve the quality and safety of fields in their local schools, parks and neighborhoods. The local agencies then oversee the construction, maintenance and programming of the fields, which are renovated with such improvements as the installation of new irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards and goal posts.
NEW SYNTHETIC TURF FOOTBALL FIELD, ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND IN SOUTHEAST SAN FRANCISCO, DEBUTS AT BURTON HIGH SCHOOL
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