Gloves for All

This year was extraordinary to say the least since PIFBS activities were drastically affected by th COVID Pandemic, which impacted many families’ financial health and significantly limited the opportunities for children to play sports. Be that as it may, we saw a strong response to our cause and have helped even more kids become equipped to play ball in 2021. In 2020, Pitch In For Baseball & Softball provided 564 equipment grants to youth programs in 38 states, Puerto Rico, and 38 different countries to help more than 89,000 kids play baseball and softball. In the 4^th quarter alone, we provided 2,037 gloves to various leagues and communities in need of resources.  

Some highlight projects from the 4^th Quarter of 2020 include:

• Philadelphia Drive-Thru Event: We held a drive-thru equipment pick up event in November for 75 different school programs from the Greater Philadelphia area. Thanks to GlobalGiving and other notable donors, we were able to provide more than $100,000.00 in new equipment to teams that are tremendously under-resourced.
• Honduras Project: We established a partnership with the first Major League Baseball player native to Honduras. Our goal with this project is to provide equipment to leagues and teams in his native country to grow the sport of baseball. Honduras has very little resources and has been adversely impacted by severe weather in recent years.

IMPACT STORIES:

Diego in Las Vegas, NV –

Diego was the reason his Coach Alex wanted to start a baseball program at Ann Lynch Elementary School in Las Vegas. The previous year his Coach Alex handed out flyers for the local Little League to help boost their numbers and expose these students to baseball. Diego was super excited about it, he said he enjoyed playing baseball with his family. When Coach Alex later asked how baseball was going, Diego said he couldn't join because his family couldn't afford it. Thanks to Pitch in for Baseball & Softball, Coach Alex was able to start this program at the school and provide a way for Diego to play.

Logan in Painted Post, NY

10 year-old Logan had never played an organized sport. He, along with many kids this year, was stuck at home because of COVID restrictions. He needed something to do so his mom reached out to his league that was encouraging everyone to play despite their financial abilities. Logan didn’t have a bat or glove. Since sharing equipment was not allowed this year, the gloves and the bats his league received from the PIFBS grant allowed them to provide gloves and bats to players that could not afford equipment. Logan, who is typically a shy kid came out of his shell to be a true power hitter. He even hit an inside the park homerun!