Buffalo Charter School Gets Turf Field Grant

The NFL Foundation and LISC grant will fund a synthetic turf field at a Buffalo charter school's middle school campus.

Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Football

Freshly installed green synthetic turf football field with white yard lines and goalposts on a school campus, brick building and bare trees in soft background. — Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School will install a synthetic turf field funded by the NFL Foundation and LISC through the Grassroots Field Grant Program. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School received a grant to install a synthetic turf field at its middle school in Buffalo. The grant is supported by the Buffalo Bills, the NFL Foundation, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation through the NFL Foundation-LISC Grassroots Field Grant Program.

Why it matters

The field will allow the school to offer modified tackle football and modified girls flag football, expanding athletic opportunities for local students. It reflects a long-running effort to bring usable football fields to communities that lack them.

The Grassroots Field Grant Program has distributed more than $70 million to schools and community organizations and supported nearly 500 fields nationwide. The stub does not specify the Buffalo grant amount or when construction will finish.

The players

NFL Foundation

The NFL Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the National Football League that funds youth football and community initiatives across the United States.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)

LISC is a national community development organization that provides financing and technical assistance to local nonprofits and community-based agencies.

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are the NFL franchise based in Buffalo, New York, and a supporter of the grant.

The details

LISC identifies local nonprofit and community-based agencies interested in building or refurbishing football fields, then provides financing and technical assistance to those agencies. The participating agency oversees construction, maintenance, and programming, and the new field will host physical education classes, football programming, after-school programs, and league, intramural, and junior varsity games.

The NFL Foundation and LISC have partnered for nearly three decades to develop community football fields.
The article announcing the Buffalo Academy grant was published November 8, 2026.

The Big Picture

This Buffalo grant is one of nearly 500 fields built or refurbished nationwide through the NFL Foundation-LISC Grassroots Field Grant Program, which has distributed more than $70 million since its partnership began nearly three decades ago. It extends the program's footprint into Buffalo schools and continues its focus on giving young people access to football.

Buffalo students at the charter school will gain access to modified tackle and modified girls flag football once the field is in use. The new field also adds space for physical education classes and after-school programs at the middle school.

The takeaway

Community football fields depend on partnerships that connect local agencies with national funding and technical support. Families and local residents interested in youth football can watch for openings in similar programs at their own schools and parks.