The Rich May Foundation Mission
Press Release
July 1, 2025
To Our Friends and Supporters of Rich May Field,
In the Summer of 2025, it is crucial that we acknowledge and celebrate what we have collectively built, nurtured, and sustained—something that has exceeded our initial expectations and created a remarkable impact on our community. We now find ourselves in a unique but wonderful dilemma: our field is operating at nearly full capacity, and as it approaches its 10-year anniversary since its dedication on
April 13, 2015, it requires necessary maintenance and long-term planning.
Our partnership between the Ravenswood City School District and the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco remains a distinctive and effective model. The school utilizes the field during school hours throughout the academic year, while the Rich May Foundation manages it after 3:00 p.m. daily. East Palo Alto soccer and rugby organization benefit from the field’s availability until 9:30 p.m. each night and throughout the weekends.
The impact over the past decade has been profound. With the assistance of Board Member and retired Palo Alto Police Chief Dennis Burns, we have observed a significant decrease in juvenile crime. While we cannot claim full credit, we strongly believe that the opportunities provided by the field have played a role in fostering positive change—one of our primary goals when we first embarked on this journey.
Rich May Memorial Field
The purpose of the field is to give the young athletes of East Palo Alto the opportunity to practice
and compete on a full size, all weather turf field with lights.