Fundraising hits mark for PV soccer field Fundraising hits mark for PV soccer field (May 05, 2004)

Because they're helping to pay for it, maybe soccer players in Portola Valley will be lighter on their feet and take care to replace divots on Rossotti Field, which now has new grass and a new sophisticated drainage system.

More than 250 individual donors, most from Portola Valley, gave a total of about $110,000 to the town's general fund to complement $300,000 spent by the town to upgrade the field, according to an April 19 report from the towns' Parks and Recreation Committee.

Most individual donations were between $100 and $200, collected over the last year. Also contributing were the American Youth Soccer Association and the California Youth Soccer Association, said Barbara Powell, the town's director of administrative services.

The amount met the fundraising goal, said committee chair SallyAnn Reiss. The Town Council authorized the fundraising campaign "to see that the people (who use the field) put some skin into it," Ms. Reiss said.

In addition to being crisscrossed by a system of sand-filled underground drainage channels, the field has new irrigation systems, fences and benches. Still to come are bleachers, landscaping and a brick path engraved for donors who gave more than $200.

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