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Vol. 1, No. 9, May, 16, 2005
page 9

Collecting Bats and Balls to Improve Society
by Christian Moody

What started as a research paper for a high school class could ultimately provide baseball equipment for kids affected by poverty in the United States and the Caribbean.

Amy Webb, a 2003 graduate of Glenvar High School, wrote a paper about baseball in the Dominican Republic. She is an avid sports fan - baseball and hockey, especially - so the topic was one of deep personal interest. Webb's research taught her that Dominican children were counting on baseball as a way to help them escape the country's endemic poverty. Problem was, for most the dream would not materialize.

Webb decided to help them, but how can a high school senior in Roanoke County, Va. help poverty-stricken children more than a thousand miles away? She decided to found a non-profit organization to collect baseball equipment, so the kids who are trying to develop their skills have decent equipment to use as they play the game.

Her donations will be funneled through a Dominican organization that requires players to complete their educations. The organization, ANAPROBI, a Spanish acronym translating to International Association of Independent Baseball Programs, is led by Jose Escarraman. Webb wrote him when she learned of his organization, and he was receptive to her idea. Still, she didn't know much about Escarraman or his group.

"Then I was watching Outside the Lines on ESPN and he was interviewed," Webb says. "I felt good about it after that."

Webb earned a good grade on the paper - - she thinks she got an " A" - but her education truly began when she began working toward obtaining legitimate non-profit status. Now a business administration major at Roanoke College who works full-time for the Roanoke Valley Vipers hockey team, Webb found that the time and money needed to run a non-profit were in short supply. The money required to file the proper papers alone has totaled hundreds of dollars.

In July 2004, her non-profit organization, Opportunity Through Baseball, Inc., received its 501 (c) (3) status. She can now solicit donations. She is grateful for help from professors, business owners and others who oversee non-profits of their own and understand the administrative details.

The donations she wants are baseballs and gloves, bats and helmets. She says she will accept monetary gifts, but all that money will be used to cover shipping costs or to buy more equipment. Someday she hopes to be awarded a grant that will cover a salary, but until then, she will work for her own non-profit for nothing.

Webb hopes to have an event or two at area ballparks this season, gathering equipment from fans. On March 19, the Delmarva Shorebirds, a low A minor league team in Salisbury, MD, had a collection day for Opportunity Through Baseball. Another is planned. She also intends to put collection boxes in ballparks along with literature on the organization so fans can bring equipment at their leisure.

"I have a board of directors and an office in my basement," Webb says. "I am having a friend translate the request forms into Spanish, so other organizations can ask for equipment."

By law, Webb can only give the equipment to other non-profits - 501 (c) (3) groups in the U.S. or international organizations that would qualify for 501 (c) (3) status. " I can't just give it to Joe on the street," Webb says.

While the initial program is focused on the Dominican Republic, Webb says she hopes to eventually offer the program to organizations throughout Latin America and in U.S. inner cities.

(To offer a donation to Opportunity Through Baseball, contact Amy Webb at 540-797-4636. Donations can be sent to 3047 Fresh Meadow Ln., Salem, VA 24153.) ', ContentPadding : 10, Height : 600, InnerBorderColor : '#6b95BD', OuterBorderWidth : 0, StatusBarHeight : 0, StatusColor : '#285b94', TitleBarHeight : 21, TitleBarText : 'Collecting Bats and Balls to Improve Society', TitleColor : '#fdfbe4', Width : 650, TitleFontColor : '#6b95BD', ContentFontColor : '#000000', Id : 'DHTMLWindow1' } var DHTMLWindow1 = new FerantDHTMLWindow(params); var params = { BorderWidth : 0, CloseBoxHeight : 11, CloseBoxSrc : 'images/close11transparent_blue.gif', CloseBoxWidth : 11, ContentColor : '#a09c79', ContentHTML : 'The Leader & State Register (Seaford, DE)

Join the Shorebirds for a Day of Fun and Charity

By Glenn Rolfe

February 17, 2005

SALISBURY — A multi-faceted event for sports card and memorabilia collectors, people looking for several hours of fun and those with a compassion for charity and patriotism is on deck for Saturday, March 19.

That is the day of the 2nd Annual Delmarva Shorebirds Family Funfest, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury — with no admission charge.

Featured in the funfest is a sports card and collectible auction in the stadium’s Executive Club, a fundraiser that will again benefit the Ryan Long Memorial Scholarship Fund, in remembrance of the U.S. Army specialist from Seaford, who was killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq in April of 2003.

"It’s for a good cause, " said Shorebirds' community relations director Norb Sadilek.

In addition, the funfest will allow fans and players young and old to pitch in at helping needy kids through the "Opportunity Through Baseball" program.

Incorporated in the state of Virginia and based in Salem, Va., in a basement office at the home of its founder and lone staff member, Amy Webb, Opportunity Through Baseball is a non-profit organization gearing up to assist poverty-stricken baseball leagues around America and beyond.

"It’s a fairly new organization. This (funfest) is one of our first big events, " said Ms. Webb. "The plan is to raise baseball equipment and money to purchase baseball equipment and give that to underprivileged, pre-existing youth organizations."

Fans attending the funfest are encouraged to donate any used baseball gear to this cause to help kids who have nothing. Monetary donations are also welcome.

"When people come here that day — if they have got any old, used equipment that they have gone through from doing a little early spring house cleaning — bring it out here and drop it off, " Mr. Sadilek said. "It goes for a good cause."

The 2005 Family Funfest lineup also includes:

● an Easter egg hunt for children and an appearance by the Easter Bunny;

● a Camp Fair in the main concourse, with brochures available from about 25 summer camps;

● door prizes, carousel rides and arcade games, and children’s games in the luxury level;

● voting throughout the stadium for the Delmarva Shorebirds’ 10th anniversary all-star team;

● ticket sales for the 2005 Shorebirds season;

● a baseball clinic in batting cages underneath the stadium; and

● Junior Shorebirds fan club sign-ups;

The Eastern Shore Hall of Fame and gift shop, located in the stadium complex, will be open, there will be stadium tours and Sherman, the animated Shorebirds mascot, will also be on hand.

Also, National Anthem tryouts will be held during the funfest.

"We have 70 home games, " Mr. Sadilek said. "Obviously, we’d like to have the National Anthem sung, or if you have a small group that plays instrumentally, have that done prior to every home game."

Mr. Sadilek hopes to soon have some sports personalities committed to attending Funfest.

"We’re working on some but I don’t have any confirmations right now, " he said.

A 2003 high school graduate, Ms. Webb is presently a business administration major at Roanoke College. She pays the bills through employment at a day care and as a sports writer covering high school basketball in the Roanoke area, and previously was community relations director for the now defunct Roanoke Express of the East Coast Hockey League for about 1.5 years.

The idea of creating OTB was hatched about two years ago, and Ms. Webb hopes it will bring much-needed equipment, funding — and a message — to youth in the U.S., the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean.

"I’m talking to people down there. Obviously there is a need in the U.S., too, in inner cities and pretty much everywhere, " said Ms. Webb, a Baltimore native and Oriole fan since she was a little girl. "Baseball has always been a passion of mine."

She is pursuing grant funding, possibly to help with salary issues, and said a web site is in the planning stages. Ms Webb is currently the only staff member for OTB, which has a three-member board of directors.

OTB’s goal is to help kids enjoy baseball — with a catch. Among her contacts in the Dominican Republic is Jose Escarraman, who oversees youth baseball programs.

"They are trying to work with youth to stop the endless cycle of kids figuring that they can be the next Sammy Sosa, quitting school when they are 13 and not getting an education. They are uneducated and have to take the very bottom labor-type jobs and the poverty basically continues, " she said. "They are trying to work with kids that are interested in baseball to help them continue their education and see that all the way through, and get other work skills as well as play baseball.

"Obviously you want kids to be kids and play baseball and have equipment to play with, but at the same time you don’t want to see that country continue to be so impoverished, " Ms. Webb said. "That’s exactly what I want to do, help organizations like that." ', ContentPadding : 10, Height : 600, InnerBorderColor : '#6b95BD', OuterBorderWidth : 0, StatusBarHeight : 0, StatusColor : '#285b94', TitleBarHeight : 21, TitleBarText : 'The Leader & State Register', TitleColor : '#fdfbe4', Width : 650, TitleFontColor : '#6b95BD', ContentFontColor : '#000000', Id : 'DHTMLWindow2' } var DHTMLWindow2 = new FerantDHTMLWindow(params);