St. Joe's Prep donates baseball equipment to Philadelphia rec center
The Francisville Playground in North Philadelphia hit a home run thanks to the kindness of its neighbors.
For the second straight year, St. Joseph's Preparatory School is stepping up to the plate in its community by donating new and gently used baseball equipment to the Francisville Recreation Center.
"There's youth and development that has needs," St. Joe's Prep baseball coach Bobby Muth said. "So they go and run out and do whatever we can to spend our resources for the attributes on this local community."
"It's great to be able to wake up and have the opportunity to play baseball every day and give back to people who also want to pursue that dream to play baseball who don't have that much," William Ward, a junior third baseman at St. Joe's Prep, said, "to be able to give to them and allow them to have that opportunity."
The players collected the equipment themselves, which includes more than 100 bats, baseballs, helmets, bags and more. All of this so children in the neighborhood can have the opportunity to play the game they love.
"It means a lot," Carl Bohannan, a baseball coach at the Francisville Rec Center, said. "Any kid can come out. We don't turn a kid away. The great thing about that is we have a lot of extra equipment as soon as they come out, so they don't have to come up with their own gloves or anything. We give them gloves, sometimes we give them cleats, just to get them interested in the game and give them something else to do."
"Some people may have never had the opportunity to play baseball," St. Joe's Prep junior center fielder Kyle Allmond said. "With the equipment given to them, give them a chance to find passion and love for the game."
There's no rain delay in generosity. Despite the weather, it was of the utmost importance to still show up.
"It's a part of our school's mission and our mission is 'care for the city,'" St. Joe's Prep senior left fielder Chris Steinmetz said. "You have to take care of the people around you, and it's more than just ourselves. We have to look out for everyone, even if they're not as fortunate as to have the opportunity to have some equipment like this."
The Hawks hope to continue this tradition of giving back so their community impact is felt for years to come.
