Members
of the Chicago Bears team and leadership were in Jackson Park Saturday for a
special ribbon cutting.
As part
of a special public-private community investment initiative, several athletic
fields in the city got new artificial turf so that youth could use the fields,
run by the Chicago Park District, yearround.
Take the
Field, as the program is called, brought the McCaskey Family, owners of the
Chicago Bears, the team’s non-profit Bears Cares, as well as Bears players
Israel Idonije and D.J. Moore, to Jackson Park to help the community cut the
ribbon on its new field.
Idonije
and Moore coached a scrimmage before the official ceremony.
Coming
out to support the city's youth is “critical. That's what community is all
about, coming together,” the Bears No. 71, Idonije, told the Defender.
Through
the program, private investors will help the city build the fields at 10 sites,
three of which, including Jackson Park, opened Saturday.
“No
one...does what Chicago does for it’s children,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at the
Jackson Park event.
He
praised “public and private partnerships” for “investing in our neighborhoods,
investing in our communities.”
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
