PIFBS Disaster Relief Fund

There is magic in the games of baseball and softball.  It has the power to bring people together, to provide escape from the day’s worries, and teaches children the importance of teamwork and resilience, but most of all it’s fun.  It’s joyful and while sometimes it brings tears along with the smiles, the memories last a lifetime.  Baseball and softball also serves as a vehicle to help communities to return to normalcy following a natural disaster.  For children to have the chance to play some ball and have some laughs with friends helps create a sense of community and allows everyone to escape the chaos and devastation, even if just for a moment.

PIFBS has been dedicated to reducing the effects of natural disasters on youth baseball and softball programs throughout our history. In fact, our first ever project was rebuilding two programs devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Many leagues on the Gulf Coast lost everything and were determined to have their spring baseball and softball seasons. PIFBS went on to rebuild dozens of leagues along the Gulf Coast and gave hundreds of kids the opportunity to play ball again. Since Katrina, we have given thousands of children the ability to play the sports they love following natural disasters in their area.  Our largest disaster relief project assisted 175 teams and thousands of children in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the island.  Over the years, PIFBS has supported nearly two dozen communities recovering from disasters from tsunamis in Japan, the wildfires in California, tornadoes in Mississippi and Oklahoma, hurricanes in Florida, Texas, West Virginia, and the Bahamas.  

This year, aside from our work supporting leagues impacted by the global pandemic, PIFBS has not had many requests related to natural disaster. However, we did support a project in Nashville, Tennessee. In March of 2020, Donelson Christian Academy was hit by a devasting tornado. They suffered major damage to their school as well as their softball field. This disaster combined with the realities of the growing pandemic, left these middle and high school students in an undeniably difficult situation. For obvious reasons, they were unable to have a softball season last year due to the circumstances they were facing. However, as they continued to rebuild, Donelson Christian Academy was determined to play ball in 2021. As a result of the tornado, they unfortunately lost most of their equipment, so they decided to contact our team for help. In true PIFBS fashion, we of course were eager to get these girls back out on the field as quickly as possible. After inquiring about their needs, PIFBS was able to donate an entire team kit of equipment that included gloves, bats, helmets, catcher’s gear, softballs, and more. With the help of PIFBS, these girls were able to start their season in March, which was almost exactly one year following the tornado that caused so much uncertainty and distress in their lives. These are the projects we feel have the greatest impact on those supported, because we can give these kids a slight bit of hope that things will be back to normal soon. We were so happy to be able to help these girls from Nashville get back to having fun on the diamond.

Links:

• More of Our Disaster Relief Stories