Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft and his daughter Alivia, 3, help plant a Chinese Pistache tree during an NFL Green tree-planting event at the Silverado Ranch Community Center Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.
Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 | 2 a.m.
When senior citizens in North Las Vegas mentioned to Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick awhile back that they wanted to know more about the Super Bowl coming to Southern Nevada, Kirkpatrick invited members of the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee to speak with her constituents at one of the senior citizen luncheons she hosts quarterly.
Not only did they listen to the seniors, the members served them lunch, Kirkpatrick said.
It’s one of the many ways Kirkpatrick said the host committee, with some help from the National Football League, has committed itself to supporting the community ahead of the big game Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium.
“Our community is really a special community — we’re small but mighty,” Kirkpatrick said. “But what I would really like to stress is the impact is across the community and in every different group of folks, and I think that’s pretty hard to do and I think they have exceeded it.”
Community services efforts began over a year ago when the committee formed at the end of 2022, said Myisha Boyce, chief community engagement officer for the Super Bowl Host Committee. The committee has 23 members, split into executive and host teams.
They are running six community programs, three that are standard projects the NFL does in every host city for the Super Bowl and three created specifically for Las Vegas, Boyce said. And all of the community service efforts are tailored to fit the region.
Take their two most visible programs, the Business Connect and NFL Green.
Through the Business Connect program, more than 200 local businesses led by women, minorities, LGBTQ+ people, individuals with disabilities and veterans have been linked with networking and contracting opportunities. They also have been added to the Business Connect Resource Guide, which NFL vendors and event producers used to find local suppliers, the host committee said.
Kirkpatrick believes the Business Connect program has been “super great for our small businesses,” especially those that may not have been highlighted otherwise.
As a small-business owner herself, Boyce understands how difficult it can be to keep a business running, employ residents and ensure they’re contributing to the local economy. Getting to help other businesses navigate those challenges through the program has been one of the most rewarding parts of being on the committee, she said.
A similar action was taken with the NFL Green initiative, a sustainability program under the NFL that engages in “community greening events” like food recovery and distribution, recycling and tree planting to “leave a ‘green’ legacy in host communities.”
To identify the areas of Southern Nevada that needed trees the most, the host committee used maps from the Regional Transportation Commission’s Southern Nevada Extreme Heat Vulnerability Analysis to decide where to focus their sustainability projects.
“The next time the Super Bowl comes, we’re going to see trees bearing fruit, you’re going to see trees that have kind of shown that growth, so there’s a visible marker of what the Super Bowl has left behind,” Boyce said. “I really do think there is immediate impact, and I think it will continue to grow on itself.”
Even after the game at Allegiant Stadium, when the majority of San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs fans have left, the community service will remain through the NFL Legacy Grant Program.
Thelegacy program provides $3 million in grant funding to local nonprofits “that exhibit exceptional commitment to positive lasting legacy initiatives within the region,” according to the host committee.
Organizations with projects in youth sports programming, school improvements, health and wellness, literacy, career enrichment, economic advancement, emergency assistance and military veteran and active duty support will be awarded at least 58 nonrestricted grants.
Smaller, short-term projects can receive up to $5,800 in funding while larger, established programs will be eligible for no more than $58,000.
Creating that lasting impact is the whole reason Boyce stepped into her position, she said. When she took on the role of community outreach director, Boyce was told that her job was to “create long-term impact” and treat every program not as preparation for this year’s Super Bowl, but those in the future.
“The legacy opportunities that we have here, from our Green program to our Business Connect program, to our internship programs to some of our fundraising mechanisms to our community service efforts, those are going to have a lasting impact way beyond the Super Bowl,” Sam Joffray, president and CEO of the host committee, said in an interview with the Sun.
And with all of the work the host committee has done, another Super Bowl may be more likely than not for Las Vegas, Kirkpatrick said.
Not one person from Kirkpatrick’s District B — a population of over 339,000 on the east side that stretches from portions of Las Vegas and Sunrise Manor to Mesquite — has complained to her about not feeling included by the host committee, she said, and people are already hoping the big game comes back.
Kirkpatrick said she thought residents wanted to be part of the Super Bowl action even more, inside Allegiant Stadium and beyond. The host committee’s community service events — which she said have drawn over 7,000 volunteers — provide them a way to do that while making a positive impact on the community.
“It’s a big city, but it’s a small town and we know that we need to take care of the people here so that every time these events come into town, people are excited to see them pop up because they understand the impact that will have on the local community,” Boyce said. “I think that type of legacy is just unmatched.”
