The Turf Up Committee provided an update to the Masconomet Regional School Committee on January 31, 2024.

We would like to thank the School Committee for the organized and informative meeting with an update from Stantec, Q&A from the Committee and the Community, and providing our team the opportunity to update the community on our status.

We were excited to hear the Stantec presentation and to see the beautiful design they proposed that will be both functional and aesthetically work for our location.  We also heard from the environmental engineer tasked with ensuring the safety of our fields from an environmental perspective. Stantec has filed plans with the Boxford Conservation Commission in advance of permitting.

They will be recommending vendors and manufacturers that do not use PFAS in their turf products as well as utilize natural infill materials.

Masconomet Regional School District SYNTHETIC TURF FIELDS January 31, 2024

Boxford Conservation Commission – Masco Field Project

Watch the School Committee Live Stream on YouTube (Turf Up Update begins at 1:50)

Please read our Early January Update for additional work that has been completed.

The Turf Up Committee update to the Masconomet Regional School Committee

Reviewed funding expectations and clarifications of terminology.

  • Turf Up previously stated to the School Committed that we had uncollected verbal indications of approximately $500,000 (March 15, 2023 update to School Committee).  In notes, this was noted as a commitment.
  • Reviewed difference between donations (cash in hand), pledges (money to be provided once project is approved and underway and remaining necessary funds have been raised), commitments (legally binding commitment to donate) and indications (non-legally binding intent to donate via a Donor Advised Fund).

Asked for – and received – permission to receive in a $50K pledge from Institution for Savings, granting them the naming rights for the Home Field Stands.

Reviewed current fundraising status:

  • $98,781 personal donations 
  • $50K personal commitment
  • $50K corporate pledge
  • $485K non-legally binding indications via DAFs
  • Total donations: $684K

Reviewed current fundraising challenges:

  • Why not more support? It’s less about receiving a “no” and more about not receiving a response or conversations taking longer to schedule
  • Individuals and companies hesitant to donate, pledge, or commit without a “yes” for an approved project (“when Boxford says ‘yes’ come back and see us”)
  • We do not qualify for many grants because we are not underserved and don’t demonstrate a need that can’t actually be fulfilled by the community
  • Banner Sponsor Program put on hold shortly after it was announced because we require a special permit from the Boxford Zoning Board of Appeals in order to hang banners at Masconomet – this will be filed and determined in March

Continuing fundraising efforts:

  • Need an overall groundswell of support from the community
  • Continue to pursue grants even if our chances are low
  • Create a donation push for residents to contribute to the project via buying a brick or reaching any one of our donor levels – no donation is too large or too small
  • Generate large sponsorships from local, regional or national businesses

Marketing, Comms & Social Media Update:

  • Monthly updates on website – shared on social, soon to go to mail list
  • Gaining subscribers on mail list so that we can have direct communication
  • Updated Turf Up website with additional content, logo revisions, sponsor level pages
  • Created on-going 3X week social media posts about various initiatives, PSAs, events, etc.

Request for Help:

  • Made contact with all booster groups as best as possible – thank you for those that responded and/or have offered to participate
  • All teams who will be using the fields should have a representative on our Committee – we are doing this for you, we need you on board
  • Youth organizations who will use the fields, and graduate kids into the high school programs, should consider adding volunteers to the committee to serve their future interests
  • We need to add volunteer resources – we need help organizing donors, reaching out to community businesses, creating and planning social media updates, and spreading word to residents as well as potential user groups

We appreciate all the advice and suggestions we receive, especially from those who have expertise in the areas in which we need assistance.  However, we need hands-on do-ers who can help us execute. We understand that people are stretched thin with other commitments, family, and work – we share those challenges.  We will not be able to accomplish what needs to be done without more people stepping in to help us with not only the strategy, but the actual work to get this done.

To join our team, contact us at [email protected] or reach out to anyone on our committee.

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