SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With the help of funds raised by SMUD's Building Leadership Talent Team, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Sacramento is getting ready to build a “Field of Dreams” for kids in a low income south area neighborhood.
The soon-to-be built baseball diamond will live along Lemon Hill Avenue where the organization's Teichert Branch for low income youth is located.
According to Cecilia Rodriguez, a member of SMUD’s BLT, the group learned that the club had no fields, despite baseball being one of the most popular sports in the summer. Since the Boys & Girls Club is only supported by grants and local contributions with no direct funding, they partnered with the SMUD program to build the Field of Dreams.
“We wanted to select a project that had a lasting effect in the community,” Rodriguez said. The project will come to an area that’s been identified by the California Endowment as one of 14 areas of greatest need in the state.
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Nearly 25 percent of kids in Sacramento Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento come from families who earn less than $9,000 a year, and 71 percent live in families at or below poverty level.
Organized team sports are either too expensive or not offered in their neighborhoods, so the two organizations say they hope the new field will address the “sports gap” and provide a safe place for the kids to learn about perseverance, teamwork and respect.
“Being able to provide them with a fun ad safe environment where they can build all those life skills that they need to be successful is going to be instrumental in their progress,” Rodriguez added.
If all goes as planned, the project will be completed and kids will be able to take the field just in time for back to school in August.
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