Today, I'm interviewing Aaron Niemann, President of the Unionville Recreation Association baseball program, to highlight an upcoming fundraiser you can support to help the organization fund the critical rehabilitation of its fields. Donate here.
Baseball is American as apple pie, right? Playing little league is (almost) a rite of passage for young kids. If you have kids, you're probably familiar with Unionville Recreation Association (URA) baseball. If not, let me introduce you to this wonderful community organization, which is run entirely by volunteers.
I might be biased. My boys played URA baseball for many years, and my husband was a former President of the organization. He volunteered because we had a great experience and met so many wonderful families during our time spending weeknights and Saturdays at the complex.
The fields are located in Unionville, near the high school, but the league welcomes kids from throughout the district, including our Chadds Ford enclave. The URA baseball experience is so much more than balls and strikes.
Siblings and friends run around and play together (without screens!). They explore the woods and climb on the playground. The wall ball games are epic. And some parents might spend more time on field maintenance and coaching practice than working their day jobs (don't tell their bosses). 🤫 It's a strong community committed to the kids!
You can watch the video above for more details, but the organization is currently raising money to fund some much-needed improvements to the field. To ensure kids are safe and the organization can include as many players as possible, their fields require a lot of love. Parent volunteers contribute countless hours to maintenance and upgrades, but they're at a crossroads that requires some cash.
✨ You can help them reach their goal! ✨
URA is hosting a Golf Ball Drop fundraiser on June 12 (you can purchase entries online now and until June 11) to raise money for necessary field repairs and upgrades. Here's how it works:
You purchase as many golf balls through this fundraising form as your budget can afford.1 Let your heart decide. 💖
Each golf ball will be randomly assigned a number.
A local veteran, who has a helicopter, will drop all the numbered golf balls from the sky onto the URA Majors baseball field around a target hole on the field.
Purchasers of the three golf balls that land closest to the hole win four Phillies tickets to a game of their choice this season.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. 🍋
You do not need to present to win, so share it with all of your family and friends who:
love baseball
have nostalgia about little league
enjoy supporting community programs that help our kids thrive
can't wait to fund some much-needed landscaping work
are always up for watching Sandlot or Field of Dreams
can't walk away from a good sports betting opportunity
There are golf balls available for all of them!
A sports bet worth betting on
The organization is looking to raise $35,000 and still has some runway to achieve its goal. Your contribution can help them reach their target.
I'm generally not a fan of sports betting, but this is a sports bet worth betting on. You can't lose. Even if you don't win the Phillies tickets, you've supported a strong community organization run by incredibly committed volunteers. That's a solid consolation prize.
If you haven't been convinced yet, watch the video and let Aaron persuade you to open your wallet. Whether or not you have children who play URA baseball, supporting the programs that help our future leaders, dreamers, and achievers learn social skills, develop resilience, and build connections with a variety of neighbors and friends is a shared responsibility among all of us.
Thank you in advance for any support you can provide for this event. Share and spread the word to fund safer and more effective fields for our little sluggers.
A little tech folly for you. Enjoy the laugh at my expense.
Although the interview only lasted a few minutes, the bright sun blinded my very light-sensitive blue eyes. I squinted while my eyes watered between interview questions. The camera fell twice. The microphones took a little finagling. It was some high-quality production, friends.
Want to know the best part? Aaron is an audio-video specialist who works for a premier AV production and equipment company. I brought my $20 lavalier mics to interview an AV expert. 😂 He was beyond gracious about the comical tech failures. I could only laugh.
Also, thanks to you all for prioritizing the people and stories of our community over fancy production quality. I love connecting with our neighbors and with you, even though my tech game is far from fancy.
The fundraising forms ask you to include the name of the player you’d like to get credit for your purchase. If you don’t know a player, put ‘URA Baseball’ in that field.
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