Father of youngest Boston Marathon Bombing victim on a mission to give other children special space
THEY HAVE ARRANGED OPTIONS FOR OTHER STUDENTS TO TRANSFER. BILL RICHARD IS A MAN ON A MISSION MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER THE DAY THAT CHANGED HIS FAMILY FOREVER. HE’S HOPING TO CHANGE THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS KIDS IN BOSTON BY CREATING A SPACE THAT HELPS THEM SEE A BRIGHTER FUTURE IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD, THEIR OWN BACKYARD. A LASTING TRIBUTE TO A LITTLE BOY WHO REMAINS AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING BILL DOES. SO HELLO, BILL. HI, MARIA. NICE TO BE HERE ON THIS VERY SPECIAL SPACE. WELCOME TO DORCHESTER DORCHESTER. SOMETIMES IN LIGHTER MOMENTS, LIKE THIS, A LIFE LESSON PRESENTS ITSELF THROUGH THE DARKNESS. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO FIND THE LIGHT. THIS SPOT, IT’S. IT’S BEAUTIFUL AND IT’S GREEN, BUT IT’S SO MUCH MORE. YOU SEE SOMETHING ELSE IN THIS SPOT? GROWING UP WITH MY KIDS AND LIVING IN NEW ENGLAND, AND THE LACK OF INDOOR SPACE IN THE CITY, WE JUST ALWAYS FELT THAT THERE WAS A NEED, SOMETHING MORE FOR FOR KIDS, THAT BEING INDOOR SPACE. MOST OF US KNOW BILL RICHARD BECAUSE OUR HEARTS HAVE BEEN WITH HIM AND HIS WIFE DENISE, SINCE APRIL 15, 2013. AND THAT’S THE DAY THEIR EIGHT YEAR OLD SON, MARTIN, WAS KILLED DURING THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBINGS. AND ALL THESE YEARS LATER, THE RICHARD FAMILY CHOOSES TO TURN THEIR PAIN INTO HOPE. AND IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT HERE ON THIS GRASSY FIELD IN DORCHESTER’S HARBOR POINT NEIGHBORHOOD. THEY WANT TO BUILD A FIELD HOUSE THAT WILL HAVE INDOOR ATHLETIC FIELDS, COURTS, A WALKING TRACK, FITNESS AND TRAINING ROOMS, CLASSROOM SPACE, A THEATER, A TEACHING KITCHEN, A CAFE WITH OUTDOOR SEATING. REALLY JUST AN AMAZING PLACE TO GO SO WE FEEL AS THOUGH LIKE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE. WE CAN BE THE HEARTBEAT OF THIS COMMUNITY ACROSS THE STREET FROM THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS WHO LIVE IN HARBOR POINT SCHOOL. NEXT DOOR TO 1000 PUBLIC SCHOOL KIDS WITHIN A THREE MILE RADIUS, THERE ARE 50,000 YOUNG PEOPLE HERE, AND THERE’S JUST LIKE AN INCREDIBLE DEMAND HERE, YOU KNOW, KEEPS ME MOTIVATED. IT KEEPS ME THINKING ABOUT MARTIN. IT KEEPS, YOU KNOW, ME INVOLVED IN THE COMMUNITY AND JUST DOING THINGS THAT I KNOW THAT HE WOULD HAVE ENJOYED DOING AS WELL AS A KID WITH MARTIN’S MEMORY AS THE FUEL BILL IS ON A MISSION, THEY NEED DONORS. HE WANTS THIS BUILT FOR MARTIN FOR HIM AND FOR THE COMMUNITY. THERE ARE DAYS WHERE IT’S, YOU KNOW, WHAT AM I DOING? THIS IS JUST TOO MUCH. IT’S IT’S JUST TOO OVERWHELMING. BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GET WHEN YOU HAVE FRIENDS LIKE THE HALES WHO COME IN WITH SUCH A SIGNIFICANT GIFT. WHO, WHO HOPEFULLY WILL MOVE OTHER FUNDERS TO COME TO STEP FORWARD. WE CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE NOW AND THAT MAKES ME FEEL PRETTY GOOD. THE HALES ARE ROB AND KAREN AND ROB IS THE PRESIDENT OF GRANITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND HE SAW THE FINISH LINE OF THIS LATEST BOSTON MARATHON. AND WHEN HE CROSSED, HE AND HIS WIFE GAVE AWAY $26.2 MILLION TO LOCAL CHARITIES. AND THAT INCLUDED $9 MILLION TO THE MARTIN RICHARD FOUNDATION FOR THE DORCHESTER FIELD HOUSE. I THINK RIGHT NOW, THE THE BIGGEST PART OF THE MARATHON IS WHAT THE RICHARD FAMILY IS DOING. THEY’VE TAKEN SOMETHING. THEY’VE TAKEN SOMETHING TRULY TRAGIC AND TURNED IT INTO SOMETHING TRULY POSITIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO WE THOUGHT, HEY, THIS IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST INSTITUTION IN THE MARATHON AND WE SHOULD HELP THEM. FIRST AND FOREMOST, HUGE HELP. BUT THEY AREN’T AT THE FINISH LINE YET. BY AND LARGE, I THINK I THINK IT, I THINK IT HELPS US. IT HELPS US TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, TO TO MOVE PAST WHAT HAPPENED AND TO DO THINGS, PERHAPS IN THE SPIRIT OF MARTIN IN HIS NAME, JUST DOING THINGS THAT WE KNOW THAT HE WOULD APPRECIATE AND WOULD LOVE AND MY GOD, HE WOULD LOVE A PLACE LIKE THIS. YOU WOULD? YEAH, I THINK WE ALL WILL. YEAH. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT COME TO FRUITION. TO. OH MY. NO, I COULD SEE MARTIN RUNNING AROUND IN THAT PLACE. HE CAN TOO. YEAH, AND HE CAN SEE ALL THE OTHER KIDS AND TO TO TO BE SO SELFLESS AND SAY, LET ME I WANT THIS FOR THAT COMMUNITY. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. IT’S JUST A LABOR OF LOVE THERE. WE TALKED WITH THEM DURING THE MARATHON. WE AND THEN WATCHING THAT THERE THERE’S A THERE’S A REMARKABLE CALM AROUND HIM RIGHT NOW. IT’S JUST THEY’RE BEAUTIFUL FAMILY IN A HAPPY PLACE. IN A PLACE YOU KNOW. YES. WE HAVE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE MARTIN RICHARD FOUNDATION AND THAT FIELD HOUSE PROJECT. THEY’RE NOT THERE THERE YET WITH TH
Father of youngest Boston Marathon Bombing victim on a mission to give other children special space
Updated: 6:31 PM EDT Jun 26, 2024
More than a decade after the day that changed his family’s life forever, Bill Richard is hoping to change the lives of countless other kids in Boston by creating a space that helps them see a brighter future. “Just growing up with my kids and living in New England and the lack of indoor space in the city, we just always felt there was a need. Something more for kids,” said Richard, whose youngest son Martin was killed in the Boston Marathon bombing eleven years ago.The family founded the Martin Richard Foundation in the 8-year-old’s name. The organization has raised money for scores of community projects around Boston. But their biggest push now is The Fieldhouse in Dorchester. The project — which would be built in the Harbor Point neighborhood in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs — features indoor athletic fields, a walking track, fitness and training rooms, classroom space, a theater and even a teaching kitchen. “We feel as though, right in the middle, we can be the heartbeat of this community,” said Richard. “There’s a school next door with a thousand public school kids. And we know through city numbers that within a three-mile radius there are 50,000 young people here.”His son’s memory is the fuel, but what they really need is donors. Donors like Rob and Karen Hale who gave $9 million to the project as part of Rob’s 2024 Boston Marathon run.”They’ve taken something truly tragic and turned it into something truly positive in our community,” said Hale, who is also the President of Granite Telecommunications. The fieldhouse project is now halfway to its fundraising goal, which means they’re not at the finish line just yet. “I think it helps us try to move past what happened and do things perhaps in the spirit of Martin,” said Bill Richard. “Just doing things that we know he would appreciate and would love. And, my God, he would love a place like this.
More than a decade after the day that changed his family’s life forever, Bill Richard is hoping to change the lives of countless other kids in Boston by creating a space that helps them see a brighter future.
“Just growing up with my kids and living in New England and the lack of indoor space in the city, we just always felt there was a need. Something more for kids,” said Richard, whose youngest son Martin was killed in the Boston Marathon bombing eleven years ago.
The family founded the Martin Richard Foundation in the 8-year-old’s name. The organization has raised money for scores of community projects around Boston. But their biggest push now is The Fieldhouse in Dorchester.
The project — which would be built in the Harbor Point neighborhood in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs — features indoor athletic fields, a walking track, fitness and training rooms, classroom space, a theater and even a teaching kitchen.
“We feel as though, right in the middle, we can be the heartbeat of this community,” said Richard. “There’s a school next door with a thousand public school kids. And we know through city numbers that within a three-mile radius there are 50,000 young people here.”
His son’s memory is the fuel, but what they really need is donors. Donors like Rob and Karen Hale who gave $9 million to the project as part of Rob’s 2024 Boston Marathon run.
“They’ve taken something truly tragic and turned it into something truly positive in our community,” said Hale, who is also the President of Granite Telecommunications.
The fieldhouse project is now halfway to its fundraising goal, which means they’re not at the finish line just yet.
“I think it helps us try to move past what happened and do things perhaps in the spirit of Martin,” said Bill Richard. “Just doing things that we know he would appreciate and would love. And, my God, he would love a place like this.
