Standing in front of the new Bucks arena at the industriously active Milwaukee Tool Construction Site Downtown and proclaiming the future was very near, team president Peter Feigin and the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation announced a major investment in the current community that had local leaders gushing on Wednesday.

The Bucks Foundation will grant a total of $1 million to 15 city-based organizations, its largest single investment yet in Milwaukee’s youth. It’s a significant milestone for the Foundation, which launched in June 2016, at the same time the Bucks broke ground on the new arena.

At the corner of 4th Street and Highland Avenue, with representatives from all 15 nonprofits and dozens of involved kids present, Feigin said the news signaled the Bucks’ dedication to investing not only in Downtown development and the basketball team, but also in the city as a whole, particularly in three key areas: youth education, youth health and wellness and community betterment.

"The Bucks are proud to call Milwaukee home and we are committed to making a positive impact on the young people of our city by developing their potential," Feigin said. "We are inspired by these organizations and thank them for the work they do to better our community."

Alicia Dupies, the executive director of the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation, started her remarks Wednesday by stating, "This might be the best day on the job; it’s either today, or the day I got to call all these amazing organizations to tell them about the grants that they would be receiving." Dupies said each of the 15 nonprofits selected was chosen after a thorough review process, aligns with one of the Foundation’s three focus areas and will use the funds to improve results in their individual programs – with a concentration on mentorship, for which she said there was a need.

"The 15 grantees with us today were very carefully selected," Dupies said. "We had an internal grant review committee, we did site visit after site visit – some planned, some unannounced – we asked these organizations one question after another, we got to know their youth, we asked them how they were going to measure outcomes, so congratulations to the 15 of you here today.

"The Bucks as a team, as an organization – our players on the court and all the rest of us – are huge advocates of mentoring. And why mentoring? We know that mentoring works. When young people have an adult in their life who cares – a mentor who cares – we see kids graduate high school, stay out of the criminal justice system, avoid drugs and alcohol early on and, most important, go on to lead healthy, safe and productive lives. And each of these 15 organizations has a mentoring component to it; no matter how you define mentoring, what these organizations are doing is in the mentoring space."

Dupies stressed that the grants wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of the entire ownership group – the majority, minority and local owners – along with relationships the Bucks have built with the local groups that inspired the investment. She said the $1 million was "truly just the beginning," adding that, in the Foundation’s next grant cycle, it will focus on organizations outside of Milwaukee to help improve "the lives of families throughout the entire state of Wisconsin."

But Wednesday was decidedly Milwaukee-focused, as County Executive Chris Abele and Mayor Tom Barrett were both effusive in their praise of the Bucks’ city and community development.

"I’ve been saying this every time we have a good-news announcement from the Bucks," Abele said. "For over 20 years, I spent a lot of my time in this community that I love with the privilege of serving on countless nonprofit boards, and by doing that I see who gets engaged. When an organization comes to town and they say they’re going to give back, if they don’t, I see it. But when they step up, I see that too.

"And I’ve got to tell you, in over 20 years, I’ve never seen an organization like this so committed, with so much follow up, so much there there – not just saying we love your community, we’re going to give back. It’s grant after grant after grant. I see it in the County, I see it all over the nonprofit community, God knows we see it in the jobs community. We knew a couple years ago when we made the announcement, this wasn’t just about a basketball team, this is about the future of Milwaukee."

Besides the $500 million new arena and the surrounding Live Block entertainment district, Abele pointed to the non-Bucks development the team has spurred in the Park East area – "over $200 million and over 8,000 jobs," he said, "that wouldn’t have happened without their investment." In addition to the Bucks’ local economic impact, Abele said, "countless, countless nonprofits have benefited, and their commitment, in particular to kids and the future of this community, is unparalleled."

"So I will proudly take any opportunity I can to celebrate, congratulate and, in the biggest metaphorical hug way I can, thank the best new corporate citizen Milwaukee has seen in a very long time."

With that, Feigin introduced Barrett – using a quip about his favorite birds being cranes, and how there sure are a lot of cranes around Milwaukee right now – who kept the plaudits coming.

"Show me the money!" Barrett said, quoting the famous line from "Jerry Maguire" as a reference to the "incredibly, incredibly generous contribution from the Milwaukee Bucks to our community." Many NPOs talk the talk, Barrett said, "but when you put a million dollars on the table, you’ve shown me the money."

Barrett called the 15 grantees "a premier all-star team of organizations that reach people in this community," and said the impressive investment shows the Bucks believe in the youth of Milwaukee.

"Right behind me, we are building the physical future of this city; but right in front of me, we’re building the people future of this city," Barrett said. "And to me, that is what this is all about today. It’s about demonstrating, through real actions and real generosity and real commitment, that the Bucks’ roots are going deeper and deeper in this community, and they’re going to serve this community for decades to come."

Alex Lasry, the team’s senior vice president, noted that when the ownership group bought the team from former Sen. Herb Kohl – a renowned local philanthropist – it pledged to be actively involved in the community, help push Milwaukee forward and proudly continue Kohl’s charitable legacy.

"One of our promises was that not only were we going to make a massive investment in redeveloping Downtown Milwaukee and creating jobs in the city," Lasry said, "we also made a promise that we would be community partners and good corporate citizens, as well.

"We’re not only trying to own the future on the court, but off the court, with all the youth that we’re trying to help build and make Milwaukee a better city. This is just the beginning and we can’t wait to see what we have going forward."

In addition to receiving funds from the Bucks Foundation, each of the 15 organizations will have its respective logo and mission statement displayed on a reserved piece of fencing surrounding the Milwaukee Tool Construction site Downtown on Juneau Avenue, McKinley Avenue and Old World Third Street. The signs will remain in place for the duration of construction on the new arena.

 Speaking on behalf of all the grantees, United Community Center Executive Director Ricardo Diaz thanked the Bucks and stressed that "your dollars make a difference."

Said Diaz, "The Milwaukee Bucks Foundation has quickly taken to heart and to action the needs of our community. The energy and focus the entire Bucks organization has infused across Milwaukee over the last 18 months is unprecedented. On behalf of all grantees, we are honored to be a recipient of this first grant stream, and look forward to deepening our partnership with the team."

Before concluding the event with music and photos, Feigin again emphasized the Foundation’s rapid, actionable results and alluded to its forthcoming statewide projects.

"This is just the beginning for the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation, one year in," he said. "We’re excited to make these grants, we look forward to following the progress of the grants with these organizations over the next few years, which is going to be very exciting, and we cannot wait to extend the Foundation’s reach across the rest of Wisconsin in a very strong way."