What’s better to look forward to than baseball on a hot summer night? The American Savings Foundation recently announced a grant for $58,518 to install stadium lighting for a Little League field now under construction at the new PAL Park in the North End of Waterbury. The new lighting will be ready in time for the start of baseball and softball season this spring.
PAL Park is located on a formerly blighted, empty 2.5 acre lot, which is being transformed into a site for recreation, sporting events and community gatherings. In addition to the Little League field, the $2 million project will include 3 regulation basketball courts, a kiddie basketball court, a play scape, picnic areas, and bocce courts. PAL has received City, State, and Federal funding, as well as a number of private donations to fund the new park, which is adjacent to PAL’s 27,000 square foot recreation facility.
“We want to help kids succeed,” said David Davison, President and CEO of the American Savings Foundation. “We have great respect for the police officers who give their time to make the PAL programs happen, and we’re proud to support this new park.”
PAL’s mission is to promote partnerships among youth, police and the community through educational, athletic and recreational programs designed to encourage positive relationships between law enforcement and the community. The Waterbury Police Department provides PAL with financial support and a full-time staff of six police officers who work with the members.
“We here at PAL are so grateful to the American Saving Foundation for their continued support of our organization,” said Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnolo, President of the Police Activity League of Waterbury, Inc. “It is because of these collaborative relationships that PAL continues to succeed in its mission of assisting youth of all ages and from all places.”
American Savings Foundation is a permanent independent charitable endowment dedicated to strengthening the community by supporting education, human services, and the arts, with a special emphasis on the needs of children, youth, and families. Since its inception in 1995 the foundation has contributed over $40 million in total grants to local nonprofit organizations and scholarships to area students in the 64 central Connecticut towns it serves