Kazushi Shimizu, President of Sumitomo Riko Japan, and Bluffton mayor Richard Johnson shake hands after announcing the donation of six acres for the village soccer fields.
BLUFFTON — The Village of Bluffton received a large parcel on Thursday in the form of six acres of land from SRK Ohio to be used for soccer fields.
The donation of the land in Bluffton is a win-win situation where all parties involved benefit and come out ahead, ideally without any party suffering a loss or disadvantage.
Initially approached by the village administrator Jesse Blackburn, SRK-Ohio knew they wanted to do something this year for the Bluffton community to celebrate 35 years in business in the area.
Laura Jones, vice president of human resources, said, “With their request, it just merged together and seemed like a great point. We’re hoping to accommodate as many fields as we can to make it easy for families to utilize the park in between soccer games.”
According to a community-wide survey, the number one thing that people in the village wanted was more park space. Blackburn said, “The centralized soccer (field) has been a focus in Bluffton for decades. The Bluffton Soccer Club has over 300 children registered for different age groups. The SRK fields have been so graciously donated to provide fields for youth soccer.”
The donation of soccer fields adds to the recreation hub which includes Buckeye Park, the Bluffton Community Pool and the Bluffton YMCA. The pathway system has been expanding through Bluffton for eight years.
The president of the company is touring all international companies and was in Bluffton to officially make the donation.
Speaking through an interpreter, Kazushi Shimizu, President of Sumitomo Riko Japan, said, “We realized there was a need to provide local soccer fields for the community. That being said we would like to happily offer to donate a portion of that property to support and give back to this community. We look forward to the children enjoying growing up with those facilities available to them.”
Bluffton mayor Richard Johnson said, “Your commitment to the community has been demonstrated time and time again, through your charitable contributions (and) volunteer efforts in community events… We appreciated your donation of the land for the youth soccer fields.”
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
