The Fields Family Foundation
The Fields Family Foundation; a non-profit organization, supports several important charities and causes. The Foundation generously contributes to the following areas:
Children's Causes
Law Enforcement
Medical Research
Agricultural and Equine
Children's Causes
Good Shepherd Services
For the past two decades, The Fields Family Foundation has supported the Good Shepherd Services; a non-profit organization that provides social, residential and foster care services to struggling children and their families. Good Shepherd Services is concentrated in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.
During the 2006 and 2007 Holiday Seasons, The Fields Family Foundation and iconic toy store FAO Schwarz teamed up to give young people from the organization’s afterschool programs in Brooklyn and the Bronx the holiday celebration of a lifetime.
Early in the morning on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, nearly 200 kindergarten students and first-graders were treated to breakfast, a puppet show, face-painting and a session on the legendary giant piano. The FAO Schwarz staff pulled out all the stops to make the event special for our children.
Most special of all, of course, was the chance to sit on Santa’s lap and receive a personalized gift. Prior to the event, each child had written a letter requesting a specific gift, and The Fields Family Foundation and FAO Schwarz made their wishes come true.
To learn more about Good Shepherd services please visit, www.GoodShepherds.org.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
As a member of the board at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Richard Fields has been active in fighting for and protecting America’s abused and exploited children. The NCMEC has been a champion of the AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert system which alerts the general public, media, and law enforcement agencies nation-wide after a child has been abducted or is missing. Richard Fields has provided the NCMEC with leadership and continued financial support.
In 2006, the Fields Family Foundation was a major donor to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Foundation was honored as a “Hero,” the highest class of donor.
To learn more about the center or to help please visit, www.MissingKids.com.
Law Enforcement
New York Police Foundation
As a native of the Bronx, Fields is a longtime supporter of the New York City Police Department. Through the Fields Family Foundation, Fields supports the New York City Police Foundation; the only group recognized by the New York City Police Department as an authorized fundraiser. With the help of the Fields Family Foundation $1.5 million gift, the New York City Police Foundation launched its first College Loan Reimbursement program designed to enhance the New York City Police Department’s ability to recruit and retain qualified candidates.
Link to New York City Police Foundation press release: click here
Medical Research
University of Rochester Medical School
The Fields Family Foundation supports medical research on Muscular Dystrophy through its $7.1 million gift to University of Rochester Medical Center to create the Fields Center for FSHD & Neuromuscular Research. The gift – the largest private donation for a specific disease program in the Medical Center’s history – will create a research and clinical center of excellence for facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD), a form of muscular dystrophy. The center will be an international collaboration between the URMC Department of Neurology and Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
Fields has a personal family connection to FSHD and understands the impact it has on families throughout the United States and the world. The University of Rochester has long been a leader in muscular dystrophy research and his hope is that the Fields Center will be a leader in innovation and research for many years to come.
To visit the Fields Center for FSHD and Neuromuscular Research and to learn more about FSHD: click here.
To view the Press Release please, click here.
Agricultural and Equine
Farm Aid
Richard T. Fields has served on the board of Farm Aid since 2007. Farm Aid is a non-profit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land. Farm Aid accomplishes this mission by promoting food from Family Farms and by expanding the Good Food Movement which consists of growing the number of Americans purchasing family farm-identified, local, organic or humanely-raised food.
In 2007, The Fields Family Foundation was a proud sponsor of the Farm Aid Annual Benefit Concert held for the first time in New York City. Willie Nelson joined board members Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews on the Farm Aid stage, asking concertgoers to choose food from family farms. Farm Aid has raised more than $30 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.
To learn more about Farm Aid or to Donate, visit FarmAid.Org
American Quarter Horse Youth Assistance Program
American Quarter Horse Youth Association is the largest, single-breed youth association in the world and provides a variety of programs to youth, 18-and-under, which encourage participation with the American Quarter Horse breed. The Association continues to be the leader in youth developmental programs, as evidenced by other breed associations which have taken these same concepts and made them available to young people in other organizations.
Formerly known as the American Junior Quarter Horse Association, the youth association held its first meeting in August 1970 in Amarillo, Texas. AQHYA began with 3,000 Members and even at the beginning of its history had an international following with representatives from Australia and Canada attending the first meeting. Today, AQHYA boasts a membership of more than 30,000 young people, including Members from The United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and South America.
Each year in August, AQHYA competitors and their families converge on Fort Worth, Texas, for the annual AQHYA World Championship Show. For 2008, this event will take place in Oklahoma City, OK. The pinnacle event for AQHYA competitors, this invitational event draws more than 1,800 youth from across the United States and around the globe, making it the largest horse show in the world devoted exclusively to youth.
In 2007, The Fields Family Foundation created the Youth Assistance Program to help provide financial support to AQHYA participants in need. This assistance enabled potential participants of the AQHYA World Championship Show with the financial support to attend the annual event.
Jackson Land and Cattle, LLC through the Fields Family Foundation sponsored over 25 riders in 2007. This year the program will assist over 100 riders to make the trip to Oklahoma and compete in the AQHYA World Championship Show. In addition to the World Show, JLC is also sponsoring the AQHA Youth World Cup that will be taking place in the city of London, in Ontario, Canada this June. Please see the link - www.aqhayouthworldcup.com – Jackson Land and Cattle is a yellow ribbon sponsor and a class sponsor for cutting.
Here are letters from some of our participants:
