By Rod Buffington, past governor of District 6460 and a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois, USA
“Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack. I don’t care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the (fill in your home team).”
For the past 20 years, “Family Day at the Ballpark” has been the most successful fundraiser for literacy projects in three districts around St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Districts 6460, 6490, and 6510).
Being a baseball fan (growing up a Chicago Cubs fan in northern Illinois), I called upon two governors-elect colleagues during the months leading up to my governor year in 2003-04 to see if they would be interested in orchestrating a family day at the ballpark. Family was a platform for RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe that year. Tom Micetich, Rotary Club of Olney, Illinois, District 6510, and Rick Tinucci, Rotary Club of St. Louis, Missouri, District 6060, were agreeable so we called the St. Louis Cardinal’s group sales office, after which we immediately decided it would be a good venture.
Since those humble beginnings, we have sold an estimated 43,800 tickets for nearly $580,000 for literacy programs. The proceeds primarily support projects in the three Illinois Rotary districts, although District 6150 (Arkansas) and District 6060 (Missouri) participated in the project for a few years.
The first year, we decided to host a tailgate party at the Marriott Hotel before the game. We asked for 4,500 tickets thinking we could sell 1,500 each in what was then the old Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. Our contract with the Cardinals said we could return half the tickets. We sold more than 2,300 that first year, with proceeds split equally between districts.
The tailgating experiment was less successful. Baseball tailgating is a different creature than football. We invited Tim Wiles, Research Director from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, to address fans with his rendition of “Casey at the Bat.” There were carnival games for the under ten crowd and typical baseball food.
Walking onto the field to throw out the first pitch was a proud moment. The three of us who helped organize the event made simultaneous pitches to Cardinals players. All three pitches made it to their gloves, and they autographed the balls for us. We were on spirited grounds. We also awarded Hall of Famer Albert Fred “Red” Schoendienst a Paul Harris Fellow on the field.
One of the proudest moments came in 2007 when Jeff Corbett, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Corbett, of the Rotary Club of Wenzleville, Missouri, threw out the first pitch. Jeff was born with a congenital heart defect that left him partially paralyzed. We honored Jeff with a Paul Harris Fellow and as a true Redbird fan for his courage and love for the game of baseball. He was so proud as his pitch sailed into the glove of a Cardinal player. Jeff lost his courageous battle with the heart defect after throwing out that pitch. His dad stated that it was the highlight of his short life.
The knowledge that we are making lives richer through our literacy projects drive ticket sales. Each district has developed a different way of distributing the money. District 6490 distributes their money according to how many tickets a club has sold supporting that club’s developed project.
District 6460 has clubs write a grant for the money, with a committee scoring each grant and awarding money accordingly. One successful project by the Rotary Club of Springfield sent club members into fourth and fifth grade classrooms to read to students and encourage a book discussion.
District 6510 funnels their proceeds into a Simplified Grant Program and clubs are awarded money after writing literacy grants.
Excellent projects have been made possible for local clubs through our “Family Day at the Ball Park.”
“If they don’t win it’s a shame. For it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out, at the old ball game.”
UNESCO International Literacy Day is 8 September. Literacy Day celebrations have taken place annually around the world since 1967. Learn more about how Rotary supports literacy all year long.
https://blog.rotary.org/2023/09/05/day-at-the-ballpark-supports-literacy/