December 13, 2004

The Miami City Commission today approved a resolution presented by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, which will establish the Heart of Our Parks Fund. This fund, managed by the Dade Community Foundation, will serve as a source of perpetual endowment funding of programming activities in the city's parks.

"Over the course of the past year, my office, has worked with the Parks Department and the Dade Community Foundation to create an endowment fund for our parks," said Diaz. "It is our hope that this commitment will seed further programming in our parks for many, many years. Our goal is for parks to become the center of activity in all our neighborhoods."

Proceeds from the Heart of Our Parks Fund will support programming activities, including after'school and summer programming for children. The resolution approves an agreement with the Dade Community Foundation, a local community foundation that possesses vast experience in the management of endowment funds. The foundation will hold, manage, invest and reinvest the city's initial investment of $923,919 for the creation of this endowment.

The endowment fund will serve as a vehicle which the city can utilize to solicit contributions/donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations to support recreational, cultural and educational programming beyond the dollars made available annually from the city's general fund. The Dade Community Foundation currently administers over 300 such funds with assets totaling over $100 million.

Miami is among a handful of cities throughout the country who have established a fund of this nature. In 2002, Diaz challenged the Commission to commit an additional $2.5 million over five years to the city's Parks & Recreation Department for the purposes of supporting after'school and summer programming. This past year, the Commission provided the Parks & Recreation Department with an additional $2 million to support its general operations and programming.

Diaz is chairman of the Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee of the Conference of Mayors, which represents more than 1,100 cities with populations above 30,000.