Girls' Softball Team Gets $2,500 Donation From Pittsfield Kiwanis Club
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Force Lightning girls' softball team has received a boost from the Kiwanis Club of Pittsfield to aid its travel to the Babe Ruth Softball World Series in Jensen Beach, Fla.
The club presented the U12 team with a $1,300 check on Friday at the Pittsfield Suns game. In addition, the Kiwanis purchased its $1,200 uniforms required for the competition, bringing the total donation to $2,500.
From July 19 to July 28, the girls will travel to the sunny state to compete against teams from all over the world.
Kiwanis Club of Pittsfield President Curtis Janey was excited to see the girls’ reactions as they were given the funds. He was "smiling ear to ear" about the donation.
"It’s an emotional thing to get to see the look on the young lady's faces when we actually make the announcement at the Pittsfield Sun’s game tonight," he said on Friday.
"And I'm really excited that the Pittsfield Suns is allowing us to do this at the game because it gets more of the community involved. It gets more people hearing about it because they get a lot of people coming to those games and this might also help them raise some more additional funds, you might have some more people donating for them to assist them in their upcoming trip."
Janey made the announcement after singing the national anthem to open the game.
In June, League President Jack Roy attended a City Council meeting to commend the girls on their achievement during public comment. He said it is a big deal and a morale booster for the city.
"It will also help girls of the city see with what a lot of hard work and dedication can do," Roy said.
"These girls you see sitting here before you work year-round to compete for a shot at the title. Some of these girls play other sports on top of softball and played with injuries through games because they didn't want to let their teammates down, which shows you how dedicated they are not just in the sport but to each other."
He added that the trip will have a significant cost of more than $40,000 that will have to be raised through fundraisers and donations because the league is nonprofit and all volunteers.
His testimony was followed by applause from the attendees of the meeting.
Most of the money that the local Kiwanis raises is through its yearly Park of Honor fundraiser in which flags are purchased in honor of local veterans to raise funds for scholarships to support the children and grandchildren of veterans.
Janey said the club members discuss how they can make a contribution when they find out about other local organizations that are doing things for children. When they heard about the Berkshire Force Lightning's upcoming trip, the conversation started with a suggested $1,000 donation and ended with the club purchasing the uniforms and giving an additional $1,300.
Tags: donations, softball,
