The day’s work began on a dusty dirt field. Wooden pallets piled high with 80,000 pieces of locally grown sod dotted the Boys & Girls Club of Greater St. Louis–Herbert Hoover Club’s football stadium – ready for volunteers to breathe new life into the grounds.
The St. Louis Rams, Perficient and Dr. Pepper joined together in early June to re-sod the football field as part of the NFL team’s annual community improvement project.
“They came in and saw our need and made sure we had the resources,” said Dr. Flint Fowler (pictured far right), President and CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Greater St. Louis.
The Boys & Girls Club’s mission is to inspire and enable youth to achieve their full potential. The enhancements to the football field would allow them to do just that while delivering a high-quality experience for the kids and their families, Flint said.
The Rams’ community improvement project is the cornerstone volunteer effort of the team’s “Staff Days of Service” program. Each month, the Rams close the office and spend time volunteering in the bi-state community. Since the program’s inception in 2009, the Rams’ staff has provided more than 11,000 hours of community service to local non-profits in the region through the Staff Days of Service program.
This year’s community day is one “we’ll all talk about when we come back together,” one that we’ll reflect on for years to come, Rams General Manager Les Snead told volunteers. Snead was among the entire St. Louis Rams front office staff, Head Coach Jeff Fisher, players and cheerleaders.
The Boys & Girls Club field refurbishment marked the Rams’ seventh annual community improvement project. The previous six years centered on playground builds. (Read more about last year’s project here.) In addition to the field refurbishment, the Rams led children through PLAY 60 activities and assisted with summer camp activities.
The project also included funding to refurbish the press box, scoreboard and goal posts as well as fencing and new asphalt. PHL, Inc., a local non-profit dedicated to refurbishing football fields, coordinated the funding and logistics.
The Rams selected the Boys & Girls Club of Greater St. Louis-Herbert Hoover Club after an open application process that allowed submissions from Missouri and Illinois schools, non-profits and communities in need. The Boys & Girls Club serves youth ages 6 to 18 at six locations around the St. Louis city and county areas.
As the official community sponsor for the St. Louis Rams, our team at Perficient is always honored and excited to work side-by-side with such a civic-minded organization. It’s projects like the football field refurbishment that get to the heart of our partnership and our efforts to give back to the local community.
VIDEO: Hear firsthand from volunteers and see the field refurbishment come together!
Read more about Perficient’s partnership with the St. Louis Rams here.
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