Northgate Community Pride Foundation (NCPF), founded in 1999, has been resurrected after many years of inactivity.
The foundation was originally formed to improve facilities at Northgate High School (NHS) by a group of committed parent volunteers. It started with a new gym floor and moved to a renovation of the aging Little Theatre. Then in 2008 the
sports complex was completed, allowing home football games for the first time in NHS’s history. Bleachers and lights
followed and were in place by 2011. The swimming pool was the final project of the original group, completed in 2014.
Now a new group of parents are ready to embark on a $1.2 million fund-raising campaign to upgrade the stadium with a digital scoreboard, concessions stand, restrooms, and a team & equipment storage facility. Fred Wilson, one of Northgate’s soccer coaches and a parent of two, is leading the revival of NCPF as the nonprofit to take on these challenges.
Beyond this current project, Fred wants to make sure that NCPF becomes a life-long partner with the high school. “I want
to build something that will be here long after I’m gone,” he says, “to ensure future generations of parents can maintain the partnership.”
It started with a chance encounter years ago when Fred met Mark Lynch. Mark was one of the original founders of NCPF. Mark’s son had a famous dog named Henny, who knew how to skateboard, and Fred happened to see Henny on Doncaster
Drive near the pool. The two chatted about Henny. Then last year Fred was matched with Mark in a golf tournament and they reconnected, this time talking about Northgate and eventually NCPF. Mark provided Fred with essential historical information about NCPF, which has allowed Fred to re-establish NCPF as a 501c3, an organization well-known in the community for doing great things.
Fred and his small board (including his wife Stephanie, a 1995 Northgate graduate) launched their campaign in October and hope to raise the money they need by mid- 2028. They are pursuing funding from all sources they can imagine including public and private grants, business partnerships, school district funding, and gifts from the community. Spread the word to all past, present and future Northgate families! Fred adds, “What I’m so impressed by is the number of people in this community that stay here after graduation from Northgate or come back to raise their kids here.”
If you’d like to see how you can help or get involved, please visit www.northgatecommunitypride.org .
By Kara Navolio, Resident since 1991