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Packers To Help Build Youth Football Field on Milwaukee's North Side
posted 11/24/98
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| Jude Waddy with kids from the Boys & Girls Club |
Green Bay Packer rookie linebacker Jude Waddy helped local officials and the National Football League score a game winning touchdown for Northside Milwaukee children on last Tuesday night.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), in cooperation with the Packers and the NFL, announced a $100,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. The grant is for a football field, fieldhouse and related field improvements at the Boys and Girls Clubs' proposed Metplex -- a new 32,000 square foot Club located on W. North Avenue between N. 32nd and N. 35th Streets. The Metplex will include a new 500-student MPS elementary school.
The grant was announced prior to the Boys & Girls Clubs' annual Thanksgiving Dinner, amid an enthusiastic audience of neighborhood kids and dozens of Club supporters.
"Local Initiatives Support Corporation is delighted we could partner with the NFL and identify the tremendous need in Metcalfe Park for youth recreation facilities," said Michael Mahoney, Board Chairman of LISC and President of Park Bank.
Wally Watson, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs, thanked LISC, the Packers, and the NFL for the gift, saying, "The new Metplex Club will serve over 20,000 kids, and we're thrilled that through this generous gift we'll be able to program youth football on a first class field complete with a fieldhouse, scoreboard and bleachers. It's just tremendous."
Jude Waddy of the Packers noted "Milwaukeeans enthusiasm for football and loyalty to the Packers made this gift happen, and we look forward to the next generation of players coming up with the support of the Boys & Girls Clubs."
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| Jude Waddy presents a $100,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee |
NFL Charities made the gift through its Community Football Fields Program. The NFL has committed $1.2 million to the Program this year, and fifteen cities have received gifts. In a statment from his office, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue described "the goal of this Program is to ensure that young people have opportunities to enjoy playing football."
"The Metplex football field will enhance the Metplex's recreational program and benefit kids in many ways. It will help build kids' self esteem and family pride. It will serve many neighborhood kids who currently travel across town to participate in flag football programs," said Michael Morgan, Commissioner of the Department of City Development. DCD's Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation (NIDC) will own the Club and lease it to the Boys & Girls Clubs. Milwaukee Public Schools would own and operate the new elementary school.
"NFL Charities partnered with LISC to fund the creation of central city football fields because LISC knows central city neighborhoods and the nonprofit community development organizations that serve those neighborhoods," said Robert Schwarz, Program Director for Milwaukee LISC.
The estimated cost to construct the football field, including all site improvements, is $315,000. This includes the field, fencing, bleachers, scoreboard, the field house and other recreational amenities. The Boys & Girls Clubs has run a football league for 500 middle school kids in Milwaukee since 1986. The Club is eagerly anticipating the Metplex's high quality setting for their games.
In addition, the newly-created Greater Milwaukee City Youth Football League plans to establish a new full-contact youth football program in Milwaukee's central city in 1999. League officials estimate the program could attract between 900 and 1,200 kids in its first year.
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| Jude Waddy signs autographs at the Boys & Girls Club |
Boys & Girls Clubs is a nonprofit organization serving youth ages 6 - 17 in the Greater Milwaukee area. They have been providing safe, enriching, guidance-based programming in Milwaukee for 111 years.
Local Initiatives Support Corp. is a national nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing central city neighborhoods. It operates in over 40 cities, making grants and loans and providing technical assistance to neighborhood-based groups. Its startup in Milwaukee was sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Committee. LISC has been operating in Milwaukee since 1996.
The proposal for the Metplex football field won the maximum award amount from the NFL. Other cities receiving awards are Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Canton, Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, Newark, New York, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Tampa Bay.
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