Refurbished Lasky Recreation Center Reopens

(3BL Media) Detroit, MI - June 21, 2012 - Local youth and families today joined Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and GM North America President Mark Reuss, vice chairman of the General Motors Foundation, to reopen the newly renovated Lasky Recreation Center. The Center had been under construction since November 2011 after the GM Foundation made a $2 million grant for its renovation. Improvements include new roofing, air conditioning units, gym windows, paint, motorized handicapped lift, a larger boxing ring, added windows, roof repairs, remodeled restrooms and locker rooms, new LED lights in the parking lot and more.  The Foundation’s grant also made possible upgrades to Detroit’s Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center.

Lasky will resume hosting a variety of activities for kids up to age18, and it will again be a welcoming place for youth and families to be active and learn year round.

“The Lasky Community center is the heart of this Detroit neighborhood and we are grateful to the General Motors Foundation for once again stepping up to bring essential resources to support the youth and families of our city,” Bing said.   

Said Reuss: “As a corporate leader in this community, we must do all we can to help the city’s youth and bring the city back to its former vitality. Seeing the children learn and play together here today is another step toward further strengthening the fabric of Detroit.”

General Motors’ teamGM Cares employee volunteers joined the celebration, leading indoor and outdoor activities at the Center, including boxing, disc and mini-golf and radio-controlled car racing. Just a few weeks ago, they cleaned up Lasky’s Jayne Field No. 4, pulling weeds and painting the dugout and bleacher areas to help ready it for the 2012 youth baseball season.

Forgotten Harvest, dedicated to eradicating hunger in metro Detroit, supplied hundreds of sack lunches and opened its mobile food pantry to residents at the re-opening event.

“Forgotten Harvest, America’s largest and most efficient food rescue organization, will provide an additional 1 million free, nutritious meals to Detroit's underserved children this summer," said Russ Russell, chief development officer, Forgotten Harvest. "It's imperative that the City, corporations and nonprofits stand together to make a positive impact on the lives of our residents in need.”

For more information on the center, including directions and activities planned there this summer, please visit www.detroitmi.gov or call (313) 224-INFO (4636).

About the GM Foundation

Since its inception in 1976, the GM Foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to American charities, educational organizations and to disaster relief efforts worldwide. The GM Foundation focuses on supporting Education, Health and Human Services, Environment and Energy and Community Development initiatives, mainly in the communities where GM operates. Funding of the GM Foundation comes solely from GM. The last contribution to the GM Foundation was made in 2001. For more information, visit www.gm.com/gmfoundation.

About Forgotten Harvest

Forgotten Harvest was formed in 1990 to fight two problems: hunger and waste. Forgotten Harvest is on target to rescue over 42 million pounds of food this fiscal year by collecting surplus prepared andperishable food from 455 sources, including grocery stores, fruit and vegetable markets, restaurants, caterers, dairies, farmers, wholesale food distributors and other Health Department-approved sources. This donated food, which would otherwise go to waste, is delivered free-of-charge to more than 250 emergency food providers in the Metro Detroit area. Learn more about Forgotten Harvest and how to help drive hunger from our community at www.forgottenharvest.org.