FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 30, 2025
Contact:
Joe Bell
Director of Corporate Communications
The Cafaro Company
330-743-7688
724-730-4532 (Mobile)
Nurturing a Dream for Niles
Every community wants to create spaces that enrich the lives of successive generations of young people. Leaders of the Niles City Schools have envisioned just such a place. To help move their plan closer to reality, The Cafaro Foundation is donating $100,000 to the school district to help fund exciting improvements to Stevens Park.
The project would ultimately create a full-size, artificial turf soccer field with bleachers, surrounded by an Olympic-size, eight lane running track. Next to it would be a modified soccer field with the same surface. A recreational building would also be constructed to service both fields.
“This is a project that brings real value to the city of Niles” said Cafaro Foundation Trustee William A. Cafaro. “It not only improves the facilities for youth sports, it helps to enhance the quality of life in the community. We at the Cafaro Foundation are happy to support it.”
The location for the soccer fields is a space that was created after the 2013 demolition of the former Washington Elementary School (805 Hartzell Avenue). Niles school officials are currently in the process of assembling the funding for the project and determining a timeline for construction.
“Our district has long envisioned providing a dedicated track and soccer facility for our students and the broader community. This generous gift from The Cafaro Foundation represents a significant first step toward making that vision a reality” said Ann Marie Thigpen, Superintendent of the Niles City School District. “The enhancements to Stevens Park will foster school pride, expand opportunities for student-athletes, and create a space that brings our community together. We are deeply grateful to The Cafaro Foundation for their support in helping move this project forward.”
The Cafaro Foundation is a charitable entity established by the Cafaro family in loving memory of William M. Cafaro, the founder of the real estate development and management company that bears his name. For over a half century, Mr. Cafaro, along with his wife Alyce and brother John A. Cafaro, enthusiastically supported churches, schools, hospitals and other charitable causes. Since its inception in 1996, the Cafaro Foundation has awarded over $28 million in grants to worthy organizations and individuals.
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