St. Joseph Youth Sports Foundation leans on the community to raise much needed funds

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. - - The St. Joseph Youth Sports Foundation is on the verge of a groundbreaking project that will provide an accessible and inclusive sports complex for the community to enjoy.

The complex has been underway for years but there is one hurdle standing in the way after state grant funding got denied. The foundation is in need of $2 million dollars to break ground on this much needed sports complex.

The St. Joseph Youth Sports Foundation Founder, Nicole Schmitt expresses what is throwing the wrench in their development plans as of right now.

“So our speed bump right now is that we have funds raised for our phase one project for the fields and also the walking trail that we have going our problem is just general donation dollars so that gets us clearing the property, utilities, parking lots and we just haven’t had a lot of interest from community members or outside sponsors for that kind of thing so that’s our hang up right now we have to have those things before we can put our phase one dollars out there.” said Schmitt

The complex will feature multiple practice fields, walking trails, as well as indoor and outdoor community spaces all designed to be fully accessible. It will become one out of ten Miracle League parks in Michigan that caters to children with disabilities.

The YMCA has collaborated with the foundation to offer summer and fitness events for the community once the complex is built. Baseball, football and softball organizations have also joined forces with the foundation to provide everyone with a spacious environment to play sports.

With grant applications falling through, the foundation is leaning on the community to help fill this significant donation gap to ensure the sports complex can become a reality for every child in the area to enjoy.

The project is expected to break ground this year once they close in on their $2 million dollar goal. To donate and learn more about this project you can visit the St. Joseph Youth Foundation’s official donation website for more details including a full 3D model of the plans.