Carvers Bay Baseball Program
Donation protected
To all my former teammates, their parents, or anyone who was fortunate enough to be involved in the game of baseball at any point in their life:
A childhood friend of mine, Lance McDanel, recently took the head coaching position with the Carvers Bay High School baseball team in Hemmingway, South Carolina. Lance recently held an early-season practice to get acquainted with the young men planning to play this spring. To his delight, turnout for the early season practice far exceeded his expectation. But Lance quickly noticed that most of the players who came out do not have the appropriate equipment—some have no gear at all.
Being in a rural and relatively impoverished area (per capita income in Hemmingway is less than $20,000 a year) means that generating revenue through taxation for public entities is no easy task. Much of Carvers Bay High School’s budget is dedicated to transportation, educational resources, and providing free breakfast and lunch for the kids. Because of these budgetary constraints, sports programs like baseball, quite literally have no money to provide basic equipment.
Lance and his brother, Luke, have been reaching out to guys they’ve played with over the years, asking for any baseball equipment related items as a donation. Things like baseballs, fielder’s mitts, batting gloves, bats, cleats, helmets, and catcher’s equipment would help the program immensely. When Lance and I corresponded, he included this:
“A lot of our new players have been practicing in tennis shoes or even work boots while taking turns using my personal glove or even taking fly balls with catcher’s mitts. It’s a hard spot to be in as a coach where you want the kids to come out and be able to experience the game of baseball, only to not be able to provide them the things they need to do so properly. I wish I was able to say that as a school we could provide this equipment for the kids but as of the time I am writing this letter we have a negative budget in our baseball account and 12 baseballs for practice. I hope that this does not get perceived as a sob story. I thank god every day that I get to teach and coach the kids I do, where I do. They are a great group of kids who show up every day to be a part of a team and hopefully learn to love the game of baseball the way I do. I am writing this letter to ask for any possible donations you could make to our school and our team. I understand that is a lot to ask but anything that could be done to give these kids what they need would mean the world to them.”
Personally, I never had to worry about equipment. I was lucky to have parents that had the means of providing anything I needed to play. These young men don’t have that privilege.
Anyone who was lucky enough to play for any extended period of time recognizes the life lessons that baseball (and other team/individual sports) teaches. From learning how to deal with inevitable failure to forming strong relationships that last a lifetime. The financial situation these young men are in should not be a barrier to playing this game.
If any of you have the aforementioned baseball gear lying around, please consider reaching out to Lance or myself about donating. I’d like to start a GoFundMe for the team as long as it is deemed appropriate. If anyone has any other ideas to get these guys geared up please feel free to respond. They deserve to play ❤️
Lance’s contact info below:
Lance McDanel
Head Baseball Coach
Carvers Bay High School
[email redacted].sc.us
A childhood friend of mine, Lance McDanel, recently took the head coaching position with the Carvers Bay High School baseball team in Hemmingway, South Carolina. Lance recently held an early-season practice to get acquainted with the young men planning to play this spring. To his delight, turnout for the early season practice far exceeded his expectation. But Lance quickly noticed that most of the players who came out do not have the appropriate equipment—some have no gear at all.
Being in a rural and relatively impoverished area (per capita income in Hemmingway is less than $20,000 a year) means that generating revenue through taxation for public entities is no easy task. Much of Carvers Bay High School’s budget is dedicated to transportation, educational resources, and providing free breakfast and lunch for the kids. Because of these budgetary constraints, sports programs like baseball, quite literally have no money to provide basic equipment.
Lance and his brother, Luke, have been reaching out to guys they’ve played with over the years, asking for any baseball equipment related items as a donation. Things like baseballs, fielder’s mitts, batting gloves, bats, cleats, helmets, and catcher’s equipment would help the program immensely. When Lance and I corresponded, he included this:
“A lot of our new players have been practicing in tennis shoes or even work boots while taking turns using my personal glove or even taking fly balls with catcher’s mitts. It’s a hard spot to be in as a coach where you want the kids to come out and be able to experience the game of baseball, only to not be able to provide them the things they need to do so properly. I wish I was able to say that as a school we could provide this equipment for the kids but as of the time I am writing this letter we have a negative budget in our baseball account and 12 baseballs for practice. I hope that this does not get perceived as a sob story. I thank god every day that I get to teach and coach the kids I do, where I do. They are a great group of kids who show up every day to be a part of a team and hopefully learn to love the game of baseball the way I do. I am writing this letter to ask for any possible donations you could make to our school and our team. I understand that is a lot to ask but anything that could be done to give these kids what they need would mean the world to them.”
Personally, I never had to worry about equipment. I was lucky to have parents that had the means of providing anything I needed to play. These young men don’t have that privilege.
Anyone who was lucky enough to play for any extended period of time recognizes the life lessons that baseball (and other team/individual sports) teaches. From learning how to deal with inevitable failure to forming strong relationships that last a lifetime. The financial situation these young men are in should not be a barrier to playing this game.
If any of you have the aforementioned baseball gear lying around, please consider reaching out to Lance or myself about donating. I’d like to start a GoFundMe for the team as long as it is deemed appropriate. If anyone has any other ideas to get these guys geared up please feel free to respond. They deserve to play ❤️
Lance’s contact info below:
Lance McDanel
Head Baseball Coach
Carvers Bay High School
[email redacted].sc.us
Organizer and beneficiary
Gavin Pellitteri
Organizer
Alexandria, VA
Lance McDanel
Beneficiary