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Area youth program receiving national recognition

Tuesday, 09 June 2009

By JEFF GILLILAND

Brown News Service

GREENFIELD — It seems America just can’t get enough of the feel-good story that’s unfolded at Mitchell Park in Greenfield this summer.

NBC News Associate Producer Leo Juarez shoots footage Tuesday at Mitchell Park in Greenfield. He is pictured with Jerrod Ralph. (Brown News Service Photo/Jeff Gilliland, The Times Gazette)

Tuesday afternoon an NBC producer was at Mitchell Park filming footage of volunteers getting the diamonds ready for the evening’s games and “Good Morning America” contacted the The Times-Gazette in Hillsboro earlier Tuesday requesting photos for a segment it plans to air at the top of its 8 a.m. hour on ABC Wednesday.

“People have done so much, we just thought it would make a good story,” said Laura Zacarro, a news writer and producer for “Good Morning America.” “People all over the country are reaching out to make sure these kids have a good summer.”

The story originated in The Times-Gazette after city officials told Greenfield Recreation Committee members earlier this year that due to a projected 50-percent loss in income tax revenue, it would only be able to give the youth athletics program $5,000 of what at once had been a more than $40,000 budget.

The committee formed a group that’s become known as the Gang of Nine and decided they’d find a way to fund the youth program themselves. Eventually, the Associated Press picked up on several of The Times- Gazette’s reports and the story rocketed around the globe.

Donations have poured in from every corner of the country to the point that Fred Everhart, leader of the Gang of Nine, said Tuesday that they now have enough baseballs for three seasons and are contemplating extended their good fortune to at least one other struggling local program.

“The guys never dreamed this thing would explode like this,” Everhart said Tuesday at Mitchell Park as he watched NBC film some of his grounds crew at work. “It’s just great for the kids and they’re what all this is about.”

NBC producer Leo Juarez said he didn’t know when his segment would hit the air. But Zacarro said “Good Morning America’s” piece on Mitchell Park will air on their AmeriCans segment with news anchor Chris Cuomo. Zacarro said AmeriCans is a regular feature “about how people are making things work in these tough times.”

She said the story will be posted at abcnews.com immediately after it airs. Zacarro said the story could get bumped due to breaking news, but added that she doesn’t anticipate that happening.