High school football players, flag football leagues and track athletes in Milwaukee will soon get a safe, natural grass surface to play on, after the Green Bay Packers, the NFL Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation awarded a $100,000 grant to the Milwaukee Parks Foundation for renovations at King Park, packers.com reported.
Distributed via the LISC Grassroots Field Grant Program, the funds will go toward installing a natural grass field on the existing multi-use athletic field located in the southwest corner of King Park, which is a 21-acre public park owned and managed by Milwaukee County Parks. The new surface will keep serving high school football practices, flag football and athletic training, and Milwaukee Academy of Science, a nearby school, has pledged to use the field for football during the fall season and track during the spring. Beyond athletics, the project is expected to open the door to seasonal clinics, community events and year-round youth engagement.
Ed Policy: “Enhancing local recreation spaces strengthens our communities”
The grant is the latest local installment of a national program that has spent decades putting playable fields where they are scarce. Partnering for nearly three decades, the NFL Foundation and LISC have helped young people stay active and healthy, and since the program’s inception more than $70 million has gone to community organizations and schools across the country, resulting in the construction or refurbishment of nearly 500 fields nationwide, according to packers.com.
The two outlets describing the program’s track record give different totals, and the gap is worth noting: LISC’s own report on a $6 million awards cycle in January 2022 put the program’s cumulative commitment at $58 million and 416 fields created or refurbished since 1998, while the Packers’ announcement cites more than $70 million and nearly 500 fields. The difference reflects the years between the two reports, with the program continuing to grow after 2022.
“We are proud to award this grant in partnership with the NFL Foundation and LISC. Enhancing local recreation spaces strengthens our communities and offers opportunities for athletes and sports fans of all ages and ability levels to come together and enjoy the benefits of outdoor space.” — Ed Policy, Packers President and CEO
A 2019 nonprofit steering money into a 21-acre county park
The Milwaukee Parks Foundation, the grant’s recipient, is a young organization by the standards of Milwaukee’s park system. Established in 2019, the MPF operates as an independent nonprofit working closely with Milwaukee County Parks to cultivate philanthropic and community support for the park system, driven by a mission to collectively steward a thriving park system and a vision of safe, vibrant parks that benefit all, with an emphasis on inclusive public spaces that reflect the needs of Milwaukee’s diverse communities.
King Park itself is no small piece of that system: at 21 acres, it is a public park under Milwaukee County Parks’ management, and the field in its southwest corner already carries a heavy load of use. The grant will pay for the renovations that turn that well-worn multi-use space into a dedicated natural grass field — a surface choice that matters, since grass fields remain the standard for high school football and are increasingly prized for youth sports safety and playability compared with worn artificial turf.
“For nearly 30 years, the NFL Foundation and LISC have helped expand access to safe, high-quality places for young people to play, grow and connect. Through the Grassroots Field Grant Program, we are proud to support local leaders who are creating healthier communities and opening more pathways for youth to experience the benefits of football.” — Alexia Gallagher, NFL Vice President of Philanthropy and Executive Director of the NFL Foundation
How the Grassroots program works — and why the money reaches King Park
LISC finds local nonprofit and community-based agencies interested in building or refurbishing football fields in schools and neighborhood parks, and then supplies the financing and technical assistance required to improve the quality and safety of fields; the local agencies manage construction, maintenance and programming. The NFL Foundation, for its part, is the league’s philanthropic arm, supporting the health, safety and wellness of athletes, youth football and communities, and over five decades it has become one of the leading philanthropic entities in America. LISC, founded in 1979, is one of the country’s largest community development organizations and has invested $38 billion nationwide in housing, commercial space and jobs.
Milwaukee has been a repeat beneficiary of this pipeline: the LISC report on the 2022 awards cycle listed Milwaukee among 30 cities and towns sharing $6 million that year — the most the program had awarded in a single year at that point.
The next step at King Park is construction and programming: once the grass field is installed, Milwaukee Academy of Science’s fall football and spring track commitments anchor the schedule, and the Milwaukee Parks Foundation will steward the field alongside Milwaukee County Parks, extending the park’s role from a practice ground into a year-round hub for clinics and community events.
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