The Olmsted Parks Conservancy, which maintains the beauty of Delaware Park, site of the annual Chase Corporate Challenge in Buffalo, has been selected as one of two beneficiaries for 2009. Also selected was Groundwork Buffalo.

Groundwork Buffalo, Olmsted Parks
named Corporate Challenge beneficiaries
Register online for Buffalo's Chase Corporate Challenge

BUFFALO, April 13, 2009 — The Buffalo office of Local Initiatives Support
Corporation (LISC) and the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy have been chosen as beneficiaries for this year's Chase Corporate Challenge.

The organizations fit neatly into the Corporate Challenge's Teaming Up For A Greener Tomorrow initiative. The donation to LISC will be specifically earmarked for the Groundwork Buffalo project, which will work toward revitalizing underutilized, vacant or Brownfield properties. The Olmsted Parks Conservancy maintains the beauty of Delaware Park, the home of the Corporate Challenge.

Both beneficiaries will be on hand at the June 4 event in Delaware Park, with more than 12,000 runners and walkers expected to participate.

Groundwork Buffalo will begin with a focus on vacant property and Brownfield conversions in a defined area of mid-city Buffalo. Nestled between Main Street and the Kensington expressway, Delaware and MLK Parks, Canisius College and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Mid-City has attained classification as a Neighborhood

Revitalization Strategy Area. Groundwork Buffalo will help transform vacant lands that are now neighborhood liabilities into community assets, bringing green employment opportunities to local youth in the process.

The Buffalo LISC office was established in 1998 and works with local not-for-profit organizations to build healthy and sustainable communities. LISC work to date in Buffalo has resulted in 732 units of new and rehabilitated housing unites, 185,000 square feet of commercial space, $130 million in total project development investment, and five NFL supported community football fields.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is a not-for-profit, membership-based, community organization whose mission is to broaden awareness of, appreciation for, and investment in Buffalo 's Olmsted Park System in order to enhance, restore and maintain this cultural treasure for the benefit of current and future generations. In addition to Delaware Park, the Conservancy oversees five other major parks, eight connecting parkways, nine circles and seven smaller spaces in Buffalo.