Bills grant to help install turf at Mulroy Park

Orchard Park, NY –The Buffalo Legacy Project, which is focused on designing a modern, multi-purpose athletic field for residents in South Buffalo,* *will receive a $200,000 grant from the Buffalo Bills as part of the National Football League Grassroots Program.

The grant, awarded by the Bills, the NFL Youth Football Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), is part of $2.5 million in field refurbishment awards allocated this year. It will be used to install a new synthetic turf field at Mulroy Park, which will be one element of a multipurpose recreation and community facility featuring football, health and wellness programs, and education spaces.

On behalf of the NFL Youth Football Fund and the Buffalo Bills, over one million dollars in grants have been awarded to community facilities since 1998.  A full list of the grants awarded since 1998 is attached.

The NFL Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and LISC, the nation's leading community development support corporation, has resulted in the construction or renovation of 243 football fields nationwide in the past 13 years. During that time, the NFL Youth Football Fund has granted more than $30 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. Grassroots grants are issued once established funding thresholds are reached for each project.

"The Buffalo Bills are proud to support the construction of athletic fields in the Western New York community and assist in providing our youth with safe and accessible places to play," said Ralph Wilson, Jr., Buffalo Bills chairman and president, "We look forward to continuing our partnership with the NFL Youth Football Fund and LISC to help develop recreational areas in our community."

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.

"We at LISC are very happy to have worked with the Buffalo Bills, the NFL Youth Football Fund and the City of Buffalo to provide this important grant for playing field improvements at Mulroy Park," said Michael Clarke, LISC Buffalo executive director. "This field will be the seventh permanent playing surface that our partnership with the Bills and the NFL are making possible in Buffalo, and it will serve children of all ages, providing organized recreational opportunities for a long time to come."