Source: Government of Canada News
May 2, 2024 — Curve Lake First Nation, Ontario — Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
Curve Lake First Nation is focused on creating opportunities for youth to engage in sports and recreational activities in their own community.
Limited access to local recreational facilities can be a barrier for kids and youth seeking to play sports—a barrier that community leadership has been keen to remove.
Today, Curve Lake First Nation Chief, Keith Knott, along with Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, are excited to announce that Canada and the Jays Care Foundation Field Of Dreams will be investing $400K in the Mary Dorothy Jacobs Memorial Park baseball diamond munity. ISC is investing $300K and an additional $100K will be coming from the Foundation as Curve Lake is a recipient of the 2024 Jays Care Foundation Field Of Dreams grant.
The Jays Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays, runs baseball for development programming for more than 59,000 children and youth annually across Canada. Field Of Dreams is Jays Care’s grant program that provides funding to design, refurbish and build local baseball diamonds in communities across the country.
In October 2023, Curve Lake First Nation and ISC engaged Jays Care Foundation to explore funding opportunities for a baseball diamond renovation. In April 2024, Curve Lake First Nation was selected as a Field Of Dreams grant recipient and will receive funding to support their project. They have been awarded $100,000 from Jays Care and an additional $300,000 from ISC to renovate the baseball facility in their community.
Curve Lake is excited and eager to begin renovations on the Mary Dorothy Jacobs Memorial baseball diamond and plan to continue to develop youth baseball leagues within the community. Field Of Dreams diamonds are created to be safe and inclusive spaces where communities can connect and kids can grow.
ISC continues to develop relationships with charitable foundations, such as Jays Care Foundation, to seek out opportunities to support First Nations communities’ youth, culture and recreation.
The announcement was made on April 30th on Sportsnet’s Blue Jays Central.
