Northville Educational Foundation Fundraiser Set For Saturday

- Submitted by the Northville Educational Foundation (NEF)

Help us to reach our $1 million goal by May 1 and attend A Night for Northville this Saturday, April 28 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Northville Square Mall, 133 West Main Street. This fun event will feature hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, live music by the Randy Brock Group and two silent auctions.

Tickets are $100 per person ($70 is tax-deductible) and can be purchased at
the door the evening of the event. Additional ticket sale locations are listed at
www.NHSTurfClub.org.

In just six months, Turf Club — a consortium of community members representing numerous Northville area organizations and businesses — has secured more than $846,000 towards its May 1, 2012 goal to raise $1 million for improvements to the Northville Public Schools Eight Mile Stadium. The fundraising goal for its April 28 event is $50,000.

“The Foundation is pleased to work with the excellent community volunteers in Turf Club to raise the additional funds necessary to fund turf and other improvements at Eight Mile Stadium,” said Northville Educational Foundation President Eric Barritt. “NEF is following the wishes of the $500,000 anonymous donor and the subsequent $100,000 donation from the Friends of Northville Parks and Recreation to put artificial turf on this field by Fall 2012. Raising an additional $400,000-plus from the community in such a short timeframe is an aggressive goal. Families, local businesses, foundations and corporate sponsors are all coming together to make this happen. NEF supports and raises funds for many different academic, athletic and artistic initiatives; turf is only one of our current campaigns.”

While the artificial turf and new scoreboard planned for Phase I will be paid for
exclusively through donations, Northville Public Schools will provide funding from the sinking fund millage to help with other stadium improvements. Planned to coincide with the turf installation include a new press box, lighting and sound system. Over the course of the five-year sinking fund millage allocation, the school district anticipates it will devote $1.35 million to necessary stadium improvements.

Home to the Mustangs, and several of the district’s middle school athletic teams for nearly 50 years, the Eight Mile Stadium field and facilities are also used by numerous community athletic organizations including youth football, soccer and lacrosse programs.

All contributions to Turf Club are managed by the Northville Educational Foundation, which has established a restricted fund for this purpose. For more information visit http://nhsturfclub.org.