The Oakland Raiders are once again helping to fund improvements at Martin Luther King Jr. Field in Richmond.
A decade after helping to fund the sports field, the Raiders announced this week a $250,000 grant through the The NFL Foundation/Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Grassroots Field Grant Program that will be used by the Richmond Friends of Recreation to help install new synthetic turf at the field, located at Marina Way S. and Virginia Ave.
The field will be resurfaced for the first time since its grand opening in 2011 that was attended by Hall of Fame Center Jim Otto.
The latest grant is part of the $61 million Grassroots Program that has created or improved 365 fields nationwide during the last two decades. It is a partnership between the NFL Foundation and LISC, a national community development support organization that identifies local, nonprofit, community-based agencies that have an interest in building or refurbishing football fields in schools and neighborhood parks.
Local agencies receive financing and technical assistance to create the fields but oversee construction, maintenance and programming.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Field receives about 17,500 player visits per year and is home to multiple local youth football teams.
