Anonymous wrote:Closet clean-out request: We would love your used baseball gear.

My son, who is a sophomore at Georgetown Day School, is preparing to make his fourth trip to the Dominican Republic to help athletes at the Baseball Island Foundation. This foundation provides free baseball training, food, and English language training for promising athletes. A number of players have earned college scholarships in the US, and are headed to the pros. The best part, though, is that those who may not get that opportunity are given the education to give them other options for work in their country.
Lawson and three other students will spend their spring break helping out at the Baseball Island Foundation, as well as leading a clinic for younger kids in the community. They will be donating used gear and have a goal of a baseball for every kid--because they've seen kids playing with sticks and soda bottles.

Happy to pick up gear you have--or share more about what they're doing if you'd like to help. Feel free to comment below or send a direct message to emsschmidt@hotmail.com. Deadline: March 19. Thanks--

I doubt the claim about college scholarships to be true.

Every MLB team has an academy in the DR and they sign players starting at 15 years old. In addition to the MLB Academies, there are probably another 50+ local academies with kids ranging in ages from like 6-14, that feed to the MLB academies. None of these MLB Academies need a US-based charity to help them find players because the system is so established.

None of these academies provide much in the way of an education and you never see DR players ever playing on college teams.

This isn't dissimilar to how European countries develop soccer, basketball and hockey players. Those kids usually don't go to college either.

Per usual, grumpy, politicizing adults on dcurbanmom.

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile everyone crapping on this kid is sitting at home doing absolutely nothing to help players in the Dominican.

It’s the kid who’s sitting at home doing nothing. He didn’t even craft the original ask — the OP was written by his MOMMY.

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile everyone crapping on this kid is sitting at home doing absolutely nothing to help players in the Dominican.

They’re crapping on the parents, particularly at a time when many have lost their jobs in this area.

Meanwhile everyone crapping on this kid is sitting at home doing absolutely nothing to help players in the Dominican.

Instead of spending the money to travel for show, send the money to the program directly.

Anonymous wrote:You could contact leveling the playing field: https://www.levelingtheplayingfield.org/

The comment above was snide, but factually, I agree: I'm sure your son is helping, but I'm also sure that if you took the costs of his travel and just donated it to the people in the Dominican Republic he visits, it would help them immeasurably more.

Exactly. But how does that get him into an Ivy?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could contact leveling the playing field: https://www.levelingtheplayingfield.org/

The comment above was snide, but factually, I agree: I'm sure your son is helping, but I'm also sure that if you took the costs of his travel and just donated it to the people in the Dominican Republic he visits, it would help them immeasurably more.

+100

How much was spent for 4 kids' airfare to the DR, hotels, transportation, food, and activities? Are family members going too? My guess is it's at least $10,000. Instead of collecting used baseball gear here and traveling down there for voluntourism - just give the organization the $10K.

I hate these kind of trips. It's like church groups going to Latin America to build houses and schools. They have no construction skills. Oh, and by the way, who does have the construction skills - Latin Americans! Look who works in construction in the U.S.

These types of trips only benefit the Americans who pad their college resumes and feel good about themselves for a week.

X4= $40,000. Is this a USAID program?

Anonymous wrote:Oh look, honey. Another overprivileged kid engaging in poverty tourism to pad their future college application. He’s so engaged and philanthropic, he has his mom write the fundraising letter.

Honesty don’t knock it. It’s a great idea, and if American kids worked as hard as those from the DR and Japan, maybe they could make it to the big leagues too.

Anonymous wrote:You could contact leveling the playing field: https://www.levelingtheplayingfield.org/

The comment above was snide, but factually, I agree: I'm sure your son is helping, but I'm also sure that if you took the costs of his travel and just donated it to the people in the Dominican Republic he visits, it would help them immeasurably more.

That's just the all grown up version of the college padding kids. A very white "team" and board of directors in that organization, wouldn't you say? And I wonder if the offspring of these adults aren't doing the same thing...

Anonymous wrote:You could contact leveling the playing field: https://www.levelingtheplayingfield.org/

The comment above was snide, but factually, I agree: I'm sure your son is helping, but I'm also sure that if you took the costs of his travel and just donated it to the people in the Dominican Republic he visits, it would help them immeasurably more.

+100

How much was spent for 4 kids' airfare to the DR, hotels, transportation, food, and activities? Are family members going too? My guess is it's at least $10,000. Instead of collecting used baseball gear here and traveling down there for voluntourism - just give the organization the $10K.

I hate these kind of trips. It's like church groups going to Latin America to build houses and schools. They have no construction skills. Oh, and by the way, who does have the construction skills - Latin Americans! Look who works in construction in the U.S.

These types of trips only benefit the Americans who pad their college resumes and feel good about themselves for a week.

Anonymous wrote:Oh look, honey. Another overprivileged kid engaging in poverty tourism to pad their future college application. He’s so engaged and philanthropic, he has his mom write the fundraising letter.

Not OP, but I have met the founder of this organization, and he's a good egg. He's an alum of my DCs' K-8 in NYC (was also a student teacher there), and his lovely mom was their woodshop teacher. This is not a charity set up to help privileged kids in America pad their resumes.

You could contact leveling the playing field: https://www.levelingtheplayingfield.org/

The comment above was snide, but factually, I agree: I'm sure your son is helping, but I'm also sure that if you took the costs of his travel and just donated it to the people in the Dominican Republic he visits, it would help them immeasurably more.

Oh look, honey. Another overprivileged kid engaging in poverty tourism to pad their future college application. He’s so engaged and philanthropic, he has his mom write the fundraising letter.

Closet clean-out request: We would love your used baseball gear.

My son, who is a sophomore at Georgetown Day School, is preparing to make his fourth trip to the Dominican Republic to help athletes at the Baseball Island Foundation. This foundation provides free baseball training, food, and English language training for promising athletes. A number of players have earned college scholarships in the US, and are headed to the pros. The best part, though, is that those who may not get that opportunity are given the education to give them other options for work in their country.
Lawson and three other students will spend their spring break helping out at the Baseball Island Foundation, as well as leading a clinic for younger kids in the community. They will be donating used gear and have a goal of a baseball for every kid--because they've seen kids playing with sticks and soda bottles.

Happy to pick up gear you have--or share more about what they're doing if you'd like to help. Feel free to comment below or send a direct message to emsschmidt@hotmail.com. Deadline: March 19. Thanks--