LOIZA, Puerto Rico,
Dec. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/
-- Little League baseball is coming home to hurricane-weary
communities in Puerto Rico.
Today, music icon Marc Anthony
and Chicago Cubs All-Star infielder Javier Báez, joined local
officials and families to celebrate restored ball fields at Parque
de la Comunidad La Ceiba in Loíza, which were demolished by
hurricanes that devastated much of the island in 2017. This is the
first project completed under a new initiative called Play Ball
Again, which aims to restore up to 25 athletic fields
and related facilities that will serve 17,500 youth across the
island.
"This is a celebration of resilience, just as much as it is of
baseball," said Marc Anthony, as he
met community members and cheered the first pitch. "In rebuilding
these fields, we can help families take another step beyond the
trauma of the last two years toward a stronger, healthier future
for our children and their families."
The $1.6 million Play Ball
Again initiative was launched by the Local Initiatives Support
Corporation (LISC) earlier this year as part of a broad effort to
spur economic recovery across the island. Maestro Cares Foundation,
which Anthony helped form in 2012, teamed up with Good Bunny
Foundation and UNICEF USA to fund
the first $300,000 in field
renovations. Cubs Charities joined the effort with another
$100,000, and Kohler Company added
its support with donated bathroom fixtures for onsite
facilities.
"Two years after these devastating storms, the need to rebuild
the island remains strong," said Báez, whose family is from the
Bayamón area. "Cubs Charities understood the need and has stepped
up to the plate to help restore baseball fields and give kids
throughout Puerto Rico the
opportunity to play the game. This rebuild will make a big
difference for the community, and I am proud to continue my efforts
to restore the island."
"Since its inception, Maestro Cares has incorporated baseball
fields in its work building orphanages throughout Latin America," added Henry Cárdenas,
co-founder of the foundation. "This project allows us to contribute
to the restoration of more athletic fields in Puerto Rico and serve children around the
Island."
All told, LISC anticipates that Play Ball Again will
restore another two dozen fields over the next year, including
sites in Vega Baja, Carolina, Yabucoa, Yauco, Utuado, Caguas, and
Casteñer, in addition to Loíza. These communities represent a
diverse geographic slice of Puerto
Rico, encompassing some of the most concentrated numbers of
youth players in rural areas and those hardest hit by the
hurricanes.
"Local fields, teams, and programs are at the heart of
Puerto Rico's tradition of
baseball excellence," noted Carlos
Pagan, regional director for Little League Latin America,
who was in Loíza to celebrate the new fields. "They not only help
build great players; even more importantly, they help build great
people."
Through Play Ball Again, LISC has been working with a
range of organizations and community leaders to outline
redevelopment plans for fields, including Little League Puerto
Rico, PathStone Enterprise Center, and All Hands and Hearts.
"These collaborations are part of our long-term commitment to
Puerto Rico, one focused on
building a broadly shared prosperity and a good quality of life in
both urban and rural areas," said Maurice
A. Jones, LISC president and CEO. "I can't imagine a better
illustration of those goals than youth playing on a ballfield, with
coaches teaching and leading, parents cheering, and a community
coming together to support each other."
"After so many difficult moments, these spaces will bring hope
and union to the youth, so that they continue dreaming, growing and
making a better future," said Noah
Assad, co-founder of the Good Bunny Foundation. "The goal of
all this is to restore happiness to the Puerto Rican people and
support them to grow as a society."
"UNICEF USA is incredibly
grateful for the support of partners like LISC, Maestro Cares and
Good Bunny Foundation, who share our belief that play is the right
of every child," said Anucha Browne,
chief engagement, advocacy and global programs officer at UNICEF
USA. "In rebuilding these fields,
they are not only helping a community that has endured so much over
the past two years, but also giving kids the chance to play and
just be kids."
About LISC
With residents and partners, LISC forges
resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity across America –
great places to live, work, visit, do business, and raise families.
Since 1979, LISC has invested $20
billion to build or rehab 400,500 affordable homes and
apartments and develop 66.8 million square feet of retail,
community, and educational space. Play Ball Again builds on
LISC's significant expertise in financing recreational facilities
and athletic fields in underserved communities, as well as
providing technical assistance to advance youth sports, including a
20-year partnership with the NFL to create 350 fields serving
600,000 youth, as well as work with ESPN to reclaim vacant lots for
basketball courts in 14 cities. To learn more, visit
www.lisc.org.
About Maestro Cares Foundation
Maestro Cares
Foundation is a nonprofit Foundation headquartered in Chicago and founded in 2012. The foundation
aims to improve the quality of life of orphaned and disadvantaged
children in Latin America and
the United States. Maestro Cares
Foundation works to achieve its mission by creating safe and
healthy environments for children to live, learn and play while
supporting their development and academic needs. The Foundation
helps to raise the necessary funding to continue to grow
their mission by collaborating with corporate and nonprofit
partners. Since the launch of its first home for orphaned boys
in the Dominican Republic in 2014,
the foundation has opened youth homes, community centers, school,
foster homes, and launched an educational program in Lima and Cusco, Peru. Altogether, the foundation has committed
to 18 projects providing safe and loving spaces for
thousands of orphaned and disadvantaged children in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru, El
Salvador, Bolivia,
Chile, Puerto Rico, and Chicago, IL. To learn more visit:
www.maestrocares.org.
About Cubs Charities
Cubs Charities harnesses the
passion of Cubs fans to improve the lives of children and families
across Chicago and beyond. Cubs
Charities' goal is to provide increased access to sports
opportunities and targets improvements in health, fitness and
education for those at risk. Through grants to quality nonprofit
programs, development of parks and baseball fields, and other
community initiatives, the Cubs and Cubs Charities help fulfill a
commitment to be the best in the game, on and off the field. For
more information, visit
https://www.mlb.com/cubs/community/cubs-charities.
About the Good Bunny Foundation
The Good Bunny
Foundation works to improve the quality of life of Puerto Rican
youth through the support of youth arts and sports initiatives, in
collaboration with other non-profit organizations. The Foundation
led two relief initiatives providing aid after Hurricane María,
which included the handing out of meals and the complete
reconstruction of 10 homes. In 2018, the Foundation organized
the first annual "La Nueva Tradición" event, in which 30,000 Puerto
Rican children received gifts of toys and musical
instruments. Currently, the Foundation's efforts are focused
on the Play Ball Again initiative to restore Little League baseball
fields in different municipalities of Puerto Rico.
About UNICEF USA
The
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190
countries and territories to put children first.
UNICEF USA supports UNICEF's work through fundraising,
advocacy and education in the United
States, working toward the day when no children die from
preventable causes and when every child has a safe and healthy
childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.
Media Contacts:
Amanda
Fox for LISC and event photos/footage –
amandacainfox@gmail.com or 347-581-6498
Blanca Lassalle for Marc Anthony and Maestro Cares Foundation –
blanca@creativelinkny.com
Ariana Moaveni for Javier Báez and
Cubs Charities – amoaveni@cubs.com
Ann Reinking Whitener for UNICEF
USA- areinking@unicefusa.org or
212-922-2623
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SOURCE LISC