JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is a small portion of a larger article by our news partners at the Florida Times-Union. Read the full story here.
With an objective to be action-based, LIFT JAX landed a significant partner on Frida.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan, whose team has been an Eastside neighbor for the past 25 years with their team facility at TIAA Bank Field, is committing $1 million to the group's efforts to help revitalize the Eastside community.
''I love what LIFT JAX represents, so it’s my privilege to make this donation and help to set a course that I hope will have an immediate and lasting impact,” Khan said. “This isn’t about cutting a check, however. It’s about all of us making a commitment of our time and resources, continued and uninterrupted, to empower our neighbors and break the cycle of poverty. That takes work and requires accountability, and the Jaguars Foundation is more than ready to do its part.”
With the Jaguars in partnership with LIFT JAX and the CDC, they plan to target five essential, shared priorities:
- Food insecurity: Provide year-round access to healthy foods and nutrition education and establish a permanent neighborhood market.
- Parks, playgrounds and green spaces: Reimagine outdoor spaces to encourage healthy lifestyles and increase community wellness for all ages.
- Local culture and business: Celebrate the rich history and culture of the Historic Eastside neighborhood through the support of local businesses and events such as the quarterly Melanin Market and other place-making activities.
- National register of historic places: Support the application of the Historic Eastside neighborhood to the State Historic Preservation Office for designation to The National Register of Historic Places.
- Organizational and community support: Build the capacity of LIFT JAX and the HECDC to ensure operational support to continue to positively impact the Out East community.
''I think the easiest thing in the world to do is to get someone to write a check,'' Jaguars President Mark Lamping said, ''if you are fortunate enough to have the capacity to do that. The hard thing to do is to really have that check make an impact in the community and have that impact be defined by the resident and not somebody from outside.''