Royals helping to build Challenger field
11/18/2005
KANSAS CITY -- The Little League Challenger Division got a big boost from the Royals on Thursday.
Penny Glass, wife of club president Dan Glass, announced that Royals Charities will donate the net proceeds from its annual dinner and auction to help build a new Challenger field in Kansas City.
That should add more than $100,000 to the effort to raise $1 million for the field.
"We feel really good about giving back to the community," Glass said. "We feel it's our responsibility with the resources we have available."
The field will be custom-designed for children with mental and physical disabilities. A synthetic turf will accommodate wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
Lead donor Fred Pryor related the reaction to the Challenger program from his 13-year-old granddaughter, who is afflicted with cerebral palsy.
"She said, 'I could take a bucket,'" Pryor told prospective donors. "What she meant was that she could collect money. That's what we want to do here."
Pryor already has donated $100,000 to the project, in which Royals Charities is partnering with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City and William Jewell College.
Lance Van Auken of Little League International said that since 1989, the Challenger program has grown from 12 players in Connecticut to 28,000 throughout the world.
"It's one of our smallest divisions, but we consider it the jewel of the crown," Van Auken said.
Michelle Ford of the YMCA said the organization hopes to build more Challenger fields in the next several years.
Mark Moberly, a recent William Jewell graduate, said, "There is a very inadequate amount of these fields for the number of children that can use them."
It is estimated that 40,000 children with physical and mental disabilities live in the KC area.
Source: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com
KANSAS CITY -- The Little League Challenger Division got a big boost from the Royals on Thursday.
Penny Glass, wife of club president Dan Glass, announced that Royals Charities will donate the net proceeds from its annual dinner and auction to help build a new Challenger field in Kansas City.
That should add more than $100,000 to the effort to raise $1 million for the field.
"We feel really good about giving back to the community," Glass said. "We feel it's our responsibility with the resources we have available."
The field will be custom-designed for children with mental and physical disabilities. A synthetic turf will accommodate wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
Lead donor Fred Pryor related the reaction to the Challenger program from his 13-year-old granddaughter, who is afflicted with cerebral palsy.
"She said, 'I could take a bucket,'" Pryor told prospective donors. "What she meant was that she could collect money. That's what we want to do here."
Pryor already has donated $100,000 to the project, in which Royals Charities is partnering with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City and William Jewell College.
Lance Van Auken of Little League International said that since 1989, the Challenger program has grown from 12 players in Connecticut to 28,000 throughout the world.
"It's one of our smallest divisions, but we consider it the jewel of the crown," Van Auken said.
Michelle Ford of the YMCA said the organization hopes to build more Challenger fields in the next several years.
Mark Moberly, a recent William Jewell graduate, said, "There is a very inadequate amount of these fields for the number of children that can use them."
It is estimated that 40,000 children with physical and mental disabilities live in the KC area.
Source: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com
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