Little Leaguers Pitch Some Goodwill to Paradise

Baseball loving kids on the island of Little Corn, Nicaragua could be hitting twice as many homeruns after the Christmas holiday thanks to gear donated by residents and parents of and Glendale.

Tim Feeley of the Glendale Police Department enlisted his longtime friend Sierra Madre-based architect John Vandevelde to help collect bats, gloves, balls, cleats and pants for the children of the beautiful jungle island.

"We have a couple of boxes of stuff and I think the aim for sending is the 15th," Vandevelde said in a phone interview. "I don't want to take any credit for Tim's idea, I mean he went to the island with his wife and came up with the idea after their visit," he said.

Vandevelde is a director for Sierra Madre Little League and has children that play baseball.

Although Feeley came up with the idea, the two men modestly credited each other for gathering about 15 bats, 8 gloves, 4 to 5 pairs of cleats and at least 30 balls.

"John was instrumental and Sierra Madre was huge," Feeley said.

Feeley described a recent trip he took with his wife to the island.

"They have a field that's basically cut out of the jungle. They are very proud of it," Feeley said. "We just felt that so many Americans have so much and we should support these kids."

Feeley said that on the island the whole community goes to the field on weekends to watch games.

"The kids there live in, I mean, extreme poverty. Getting them involved in playing baseball will help them feel less oppressed by that situation," Feeley said.

He spoke endearingly about a man named Rolando, a Little Corn local who has gone above and beyond to provide the area's kids with the chance to enjoy playing baseball.

"He takes them to games on the mainland with his own money. He pays for their boat rides and makes sure they have snacks throughout the day," Feeley said.

The baseball equipment is scheduled to arrive in Nicaragua just around Christmas, barring any serious obstacles in the shipping process.

The collection period in Sierra Madre was held during , which ended on December 4th, but donations are still welcome up until shipping time, Feeley said.