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Neighborhood news

Baseball teams help feed 100 families

By MARY COLLISTER
Published November 24, 2006

One hundred families in the Dover area had a better Thanksgiving thanks to the Bullets baseball teams.

Members of the baseball league, who range in age from 8 to 18, gathered Sunday at their home fields at Dover Park.

Pickups laden with boxes of food, including frozen turkeys, arrived from the local Wal-Mart. League administrator Laurel Giardina quickly organized the boys. Within 20 minutes, bags were filled with traditional Thanksgiving fare and delivery teams had been organized.

This is the third year the league has undertaken the project. The first year, they delivered 12 meals. Last year, the number grew to 72 meals. This year, they had 100 meals to deliver.

"We like to sponsor one family per player so that everyone feels involved," Giardina said.

The project was the brainchild of Sal Giardina, also a league administrator, who recalls participating in a similar activity in New York with his father, said his wife, Laurel.

"This is something he remembers from his childhood and now we have the opportunity to continue it here," she said.

Nick Moore, 15, who has been involved from the beginning, has a simple answer for why he's back.

"It's just a good feeling to help other people," he said. "The more people who are involved, the more families we can feed and the better it feels."

This year's effort started months ago, when the league began organizing a number of fundraisers.

On Sunday afternoon, players, parents and siblings were involved.

Addresses and maps were provided by the First Baptist Church and Tampa Wholesale Nursery in Dover. Teams of four to eight boys piled in the vehicles and started their deliveries.

At the end, participants met back at the fields for ice cream.

"I want my family to realize how fortunate we are. If we don't teach our children to give back to their community, who will?" coach Ernie Doini said.

[Last modified November 22, 2006, 09:17:07]