RENTON, Wash. - Highline Public Schools will install a synthetic turf field at Evergreen High School in Burien, Wash. thanks in part to a $250,000 grant from the Seattle Seahawks through the National Football League Foundation Grassroots Program.
The grant from the Seahawks, the NFL Foundation, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is part of more than $3 million in field refurbishment awards allocated this year.
The NFL Foundation/LISC Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Foundation and LISC, the nation's leading community development support organization, has committed nearly $46 million to the program since 1998, supporting 336 projects nationwide. Fields are newly built or significantly renovated, with improvements including irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards, goal posts and turf. Grassroots grants are issued once established funding thresholds are reached for each project.
LISC identifies local, nonprofit, community-based agencies that have an interest in building or refurbishing football fields in schools and neighborhood parks. Through the program, local agencies are provided with the necessary financing and technical assistance to improve the quality and safety of fields in their communities. The agencies oversee the construction, maintenance and programming of the fields.
"In many ways, the community of White Center and our scholar-athletes attending Evergreen and Cascade will significantly benefit from the facility improvements on campus thanks to these generous grants by the Seahawks and King County," said Highline Public Schools Athletic Director Phil Willenbrock.
"This investment represents more than just a new field to play on - it is also about creating a gathering space to help build community, teach important life lessons, and continues to allow our children to dream big. Thank you to the NFL and the Seattle Seahawks for helping make a difference for families as the lives of many will be touched by this award," said LISC Program Vice President, Joseph Horiye.
