Former Green Bay Packers including Willie Buchanon, Johnnie Gray, Bob Long and Mark Chmura joined Journey House last Saturday, June 12 for a fundraiser at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.
Attendees enjoyed meeting these gridiron greats at both a VIP Reception and general autograph session.
Proceeds from the event will help with the cost of installing a synthetic turf football field in Mitchell Park. The turf was donated by the Green Bay Packers to Journey House and previously resided at their Ray Nitschke Practice Field. Once in place at Mitchell Park, this turf will serve as the home field for the Journey House Youth Football and Cheerleading Program.
Journey House, as a part of this initiative, received a $200,000 grant from the Green Bay Packers as part of the National Football League Grassroots Program. The NFL Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and LISC, a community development support corporation, has resulted in the construction or renovation of 225 football fields nationwide in the past 12 years
Journey House works with the community utilizing a self-help philosophy in order to increase education, reduce unemployment, lower the incidence of crime, strengthen the family structure and revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. The organization, which features nine locations across Milwaukee's Clarke Square neighborhood and the greater south side, served nearly 4,000 youth and families with its programs in 2009.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
