Post Gala Update

Although Covid-19 has been putting a stop to gatherings, Friends of Baseball saw this as an opportunity to get creative. Rather than cancelling a night full of recognition and celebrating resilient communities within Portland, we converted people’s homes to be at the center of our appreciation through our very first Virtual Gala! 
Through the support of our community, we were able to push out a handful of programs to help brighten the lives of young ball players around the Portland area. These programs were created with the idea of bringing joy and healing to families in our community. Although these programs were designed for ball players to come out to get some batting or fielding practice, we also saw parents light up at the sight of their children enjoying an outdoor activity for the first time in 6 months. 
Thanks to the support of the community we were able to provide the following programs this fall:

• Full Count Virtual Enrichment Classes and Online Lessons at multiple school sites, with coordinating equipment distributions throughout the Fall Term. 
  
• “Play Catch With A Coach” safe in-person mentoring sessions for young ballplayers
  

• Play Ball Fall Classic Weekend, with multiple distribution sites in the Portland Metro area to distribute free baseball/softball equipment and youth “swag bags” to 1000 local youth. 
  
• Virtual Film Screening/Zoom Discussion - The Other Boys of Summer, designed to educate Portland youth about the legendary players of the Negro Baseball Leagues, and to celebrate the Centennial Year of the founding of the Negro Leagues.
  

We hope to see you very soon in the safest way possible!
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