New Ogdensburg youth athletic center wins $100K in grants

Center is named in honor of NBA coach’s father     

OGDENSBURG — A new athletic center for the Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club — named in honor of the father of an NBA coach — is getting a boost from the Northern New York Community Foundation. 

The club will use a series of grants totaling $100,000 to help pay for a new youth athletic center that’s set to open later this year.

The Preston C. Carlisle Youth Athletic Center is named in honor of the father of Rick Carlisle, who is now in his second tenure as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. Carlisle, an Ogdensburg native, and his family were “instrumental” in initiating the project with what the foundation described as a “substantial” donation to the club.

Preston Carlisle is a former member of the Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club’s board of directors and has been a “longtime supporter” of the club and youth activities in Northern New York, the foundation said.

In addition to the Carlisle family’s donation, the Community Foundation board of directors recently approved two grants totaling $50,000 to support the club’s $2.3 million capital project.

A $25,000 grant will provide direct support to the capital campaign and a $25,000 matching challenge will help build charitable support from the community. It means the foundation will match gifts dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000 from individuals, couples, families, and businesses supporting the campaign, per a Northern New York Community Foundation news release.

The board also approved a third grant of $50,000 to establish an endowment at the Community Foundation that will give the organization a “permanent resource it can rely on” to sustain its facilities and operations.

“The Community Foundation feels strongly about making a commitment to the Club and the Ogdensburg community in a way that would honor the Club’s history and heritage, help build upon the campaign’s success, and provide additional support for long-term sustainability,” Rande Richardson, executive director of the Northern New York Community Foundation, said in the release. “We join in the investments of others in ways that will help strengthen the Club’s vital work and mission for generations to come as they continue to touch lives in lasting ways.”

Matching grant 

The Community Foundation partnered with Lee A. (Gus) Murray — described as a “longtime Ogdensburg donor” — to award the matching grant and help build the Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club’s new endowment.

Murray is an Ogdensburg native and “longtime supporter” of the Boys & Girls Club. 

“In recent years, I’ve become more acquainted with the great work the Boys & Girls Club is doing with Ogdensburg youths,” Murray said. “I am pleased to be part of the support team that’s going to allow the Club to take some major steps forward to expand upon what they already do so well.”

Tom Luckie, executive director of the Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club, called the project “transformative” for the Ogdensburg community, adding that it will give the club “every opportunity to grow its mission and charitable support for its work well into the future.”

“We are grateful for the Community Foundation’s commitment to our organization and the youths it serves,” Luckie said. “The impact this will have on young lives for years to come is tremendous. We also greatly appreciate such meaningful support for this project from longtime Club advocate Gus Murray.”

The Ogdensburg Boys & Girls Club is “one of the region’s longest-operating nonprofits,” serving youth and building young leaders in the North Country, the Community Foundation noted.