Back in January of 2006, the Berkshire Baseball Club launched their World Equipment Outreach Program. The concept was simple, collect new and used baseball and softball equipment and distribute it between the Olivet Boys & Girls Clubs, here locally and Child Sponsorship International in Roatan, Honduras. Since that time, the organization has donated over 400 boxes of baseball & softball equipment to underprivileged children world-wide.
The program came to life when Dan Clouser, Berkshire Baseball President and his wife went on a 
cruise in January of 2006. The one port of call on the cruise was the small island of Roatan, just off the coast of Honduras. While there, the couple along with some family and friends visited an orphanage, Child Sponsorship International. While at the orphanage, the director at the time, Brad Warren, mentioned that they were in the process of building a baseball field and starting a youth baseball program for kids on the island, both at the orphanage and not at the orphanage.
Obviously, for Clouser, this struck a chord. "I just thought to myself that with the contacts we have in Berkshire Baseball, we should certainly be able to help these people out."
At the very first board meeting that the organization had following Clouser's return to the United States, it was put on the agenda. The board loved the idea and the project was born. The one stipulation was to also find a benefactor locally. The club felt that it was important to be able to help kids right in their own back yard as well as those abroad.
"If there is one thing that aggravates me is when our own government looks past those who are in need in our own backyard to help other countries" Clouser said. "It has to be spread out, we can help here and help other counties as well, that was important to us."
The Olivet Boys & Girls Club and their RBI (Reaching Baseball to the Inner City) Program seemed to be a perfect fit locally.
After a few years, Brad Warren moved onto another mission in Africa and Berkshire could not establish contact with the new directors of Child Sponsorship International in Roatan.
Ironically, Clouser was invited to speak at the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) convention in San Antonio, Texas in December of 2008, shortly after losing contact with Child Sponsorship International. Enter Cindy Daub; Cindy is the director of the NAYS Global Gear Drive Program, which is Berkshire's World Equipment Outreach Program on a much larger scale and for all sports, not just baseball and softball. Clouser explained the organizations World Equipment Outreach Program to Daub and how they no longer had an outlet to distribute equipment overseas. They discussed how the two organizations could partner up and continue to get much needed equipment into the hands of kids in need all over the world.
"I always find it amazing how things can sometimes take care of themselves. Cindy and I hit it off immediately, having a common interest and bond through these two projects." Clouser said. "NAYS is a great organization that was built on the same fundamental principals as those that Berkshire Baseball was built on, so developing a partnership was a no-brainer."
With the partnership with NAYS and their Global Gear Drive Program, Berkshire Baseball can actually reach kids all over the world now as opposed to just in Roatan. The arrangement that the two organizations have is for Berkshire Baseball to collect equipment and get it to NAYS Headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida. From that point, NAYS warehouses the equipment and ships it worldwide to those in need.
Since the inception of the project, Berkshire Baseball has spent over $5,000 on shipping equipment. Obviously, the partnership with NAYS has allowed the organization to cut down tremendously on shipping costs, but although it is considerably less to ship equipment from Pennsylvania to West Palm Beach, Florida than it was to ship gear from Pennsylvania to Honduras, there is still a significant cost involved in order to keep the project afloat.
"Obviously, in our current economic times, this has been our biggest challenge." Said Clouser. "Getting the equipment is great, but we still need to get it to Florida. That costs a lot of money and each year, we see our donations get smaller and smaller."
The organization has three collection dates scheduled for 2011, the first is coming up on Sunday, March 13, 2011 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM at the Body Zone Sports & Wellness Center, 3103 Paper Mill Road, Wyomissing, PA 19610. The second collection date is scheduled for Saturday, June 11, 2011 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM at Freedom Toyota, 41 Industrial Drive, Hamburg, PA 19526. The final collection of the 2011 season will be conducted at the Reading Phillies First Energy Stadium from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Friday, July 29, 2011.
The organization will accept any type of new or used equipment that is still in usable condition. For those who do not have old equipment to donate but still wish to help they can stop by any collection site and make a monetary donation to help offset shipping costs. Donations can also be made online at www.BerkshireBaseball.com.
great oppurtunity to come out during the off-season and spend some time with your fellow Berkshire family members. You'll get to dance and enjoy the great classic rock-n-roll of Jiminy Slicket throughout the evening and take part in various chinese auctions and silent auctions to help raise much needed funds for the organization. You'll have a chance to bid on some of these great silent auction items...