Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING THIS BAD’
Fundraiser started after storm ruins 7 Little League fields
A community fundraiser has been started after torrential rains earlier this week caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to seven baseball and softball fields in Downingtown.
“I’ve never seen anything this bad, and I have been involved with the league for eight years,” said Nate Laverty, league president for Downingtown West Little League. “The fields in Downingtown sometimes flood, and there’s not a lot we can do about that, but it’s rare that it comes up so high that it infiltrates the structures. Our fields got hammered by the storms.”
The storm dumped nearly seven inches of rain in parts of the Downingtown area.
Nearly $18,000 of a $30,000 goal on GoFundMe has already been raised. Laverty said the ruined fields have impacted the playoffs, and it will take more than a week to get them in playable condition if the money is raised and volunteers help out.
He said two fields will be back in playable shape by the weekend. They are the fields at the West Bradford Township Building on Marshallton-Thorndale Road and the softball field at the Beacon Hill complex.
In the storm, the league lost a $4,000 freezer and much of the food stored there. Also lost were game supplies, and there was damage to snack buildings and batting cages. The league will need about $8,000 of infield mix to get the fields playable.
Since the damage to the fields, other leagues in West Chester and Oxford have offered to help, and have offered their fields for use in the playoffs.
“It’s incredible,” Laverty said. “We have a great community here.”
One local business, Smith’s Equipment Repair LLC offered their services to the league to repair landscaping equipment damaged in the storm.
To donate on the GoFundMe, visit: https://www.gofundme. com/f/urgent-repairs-neededfrom-flood-damage?utm_ medium=referral&utm_ source=unknown&utm_ campaign=comms_ ghph+urgent-repairs-neededfrom-flood-damage.