Kevin Harvick and Cal Ripkin Sr. Foundations unveil multi-purpose youth development park

Christmas came early for The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Greensboro Wednesday in the form of a multi-purpose, turf playing surface Youth Development Park, gifted to the organization by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and the Kevin Harvick Foundation.

Sport superstars Cal Ripken Jr. and Kevin Harvick cut the ribbon to unveil the Kevin Harvick Foundation Park at the future site of The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Greensboro on W. Whittington Street.  The park will provide a clean and safe environment in which local youth can play, learn and grow.
“The Kevin Harvick Foundation is honored to partner with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation to build a ‘field of dreams’ for so many underserved children in Greensboro,” Harvick said.  “Sports can be instrumental in a child’s physical and mental development – an outlet for youth who could be facing a variety of challenges in everyday life.  The Kevin Harvick Foundation and Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation are honored to be able to give so many children a safe, clean environment to just be kids.”
 
The state-of-the-art facility is designed for multi-sport use, featuring a turf playing surface, backstop, fencing, dugouts and a digital scoreboard.  The park, a gift to The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Greensboro, will be maintained by the organization, with whom the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and Kevin Harvick Foundation will collaborate to create and implement character education programming and clinics for the children.
Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony featured guest speakers including: Ripken, Baseball Hall of Famer and Ripken Foundation vice chairman; Harvick, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and Kevin Harvick Foundation co-founder; Major Don Vick, Corps Officer, The Salvation Army of Greensboro;and Steve Salem, president of Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. Following the ceremony, Ripken and Harvick hit the field with the children for a Quickball clinic – a fast-paced, easy-to-learn version of America’s pastime.
 
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the Kevin Harvick Foundation and The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Greensboro,” Ripken said. “It’s a special moment when multiple organizations sharing a common mission come together to provide our youth with opportunities to succeed. Dad would be proud to see us all joining hands to make a difference.”
 
The park marks the 51st Youth Development Park completed by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation for use by Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. The Greensboro project represents the first collaboration between the two foundations. The Kevin Harvick Foundation assists in funding the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, as the two charitable organizations share the common goal of supporting underprivileged youth across the United States in various ways.
 
During the last five years, the Ripken Foundation has developed more than 50 multi-purpose turf facilities in 16 states, impacting more than 220,000 youth. Since 2009, the Ripken Foundation has had presence in numerous communities throughout North Carolina through its Badges for Baseball law enforcement youth mentoring programand Youth Development Park initiative. In addition to Kevin Harvick Foundation Park, the Ripken Foundation has three Youth Development Parks in use by youth-serving organizations in Charlotte, Greenville and Raleigh – two of which are adaptive fields to provide children with special needs a safe place to play and grow.

Kevin Harvick Foundation PR