Help WNC Little Leagues Rebuild After Helene

Hurricane Helene ravaged a vast area in WNC on 9/27/2024. During the event, we had three Little League Charter Members that were highly affected by the hurricane. North Carolina District 5 Little League is collecting funds to assist Mountaineer (Waynesville) Little League, North Asheville Little League, and Avery County Little League in their efforts to restore their respective leagues back to the same status as before Hurricane Helene. Mountaineer and Avery County Little League both sustained devastating damage to playing fields. They each lost field maintenance equipment, such as mowers and implements, and concession equipment and appliances. In addition, they lost all their game equipment, including catcher's gear, batting tees, pitching machines, along with an inventory of baseballs and softballs. North Asheville lost game equipment, gear, and netting for a batting cage. The money donated to this GoFundMe will be utilized to acquire replacement equipment and appliances as referenced above.

North Carolina Little League comprises six districts. Each district has a District Administrator (DA) and a staff that assists the DA in supporting the various Little League Charter Members in each district. I, Curtis Lambert, serve as District Administrator for NC D5 Little League. Mountaineer and North Asheville are charter members of District 5, and Avery County LL is a member of NC D1 and John Barker is Their District Administrator. In lieu of potentially having various crowdfunding activities going on simultaneously, we felt it best to run the crowdfunding through one avenue, pooling the funds and potentially obtaining some volume sale discounts on various purchases that are necessary to each Charter Member with these donated funds.

Each respective Charter Member has inventoried their respective situation regarding loss and damage. In order to replace all lost or damaged concession equipment, field maintenance equipment, and game gear/equipment, we will need a cumulative total of $65,000.00. This figure does not include any labor or material to remediate the fencing, playing surfaces, lighting, etc., that was damaged on numerous fields.

Little League baseball and softball programs are a very important component of each community. Each player that participates in Little League each year is excited to just play a game. Many of these leagues are just now recovering from COVID years. It is obvious that each community in Western North Carolina suffered massive devastation from Helene. Some families have already put the pieces back together, yet there are those communities that could take months or even years to see some resemblance of normalcy and others that may never recover.

The need to play baseball and softball is great for the approximately 1,000 kids that have been directly affected in the areas mentioned above. These families have been through and, in some cases, witnessed what could be called terror. They desperately need to get back to normal life events to help cope with the tragedy of Helene. Little League programs fill a void for younger children as they are not yet old enough to play public school sports. Also, Little League recently shared some statistics that 3 in 12 girls and 2 in 12 boys have been exposed to some type of abuse (mental, physical, emotional, or sexual). By offering an opportunity for kids to play a sport, it allows them time away from home, and volunteers through Little League must take “Abuse Awareness” training, which could help spot potential abuse. As stated many times, “you learn many life lessons playing sports.” What better way to show these kids that we, as adults, are here to help and support them.

As with many youth programs, there is always financial support that goes with it. Little League baseball and softball are no different. Each league is self-sustaining and charges a fee for registration and uses local businesses to sponsor teams to help keep costs to the families low. Under the current circumstances, not only did the leagues mentioned lose everything, but some players lost everything. This means a hardship is placed on both parties as families may not be able to replace personal equipment and pay fees to play. As for those businesses that normally sponsor teams from year to year, they are suffering the same hardships as they may never open again or need to conserve money just to remain open. So needless to say, these three leagues are in treacherous territory as they want to have a spring 2025 season, but financial concerns due to their losses from Helene have put it in jeopardy.

With these thoughts in mind, on behalf of the leagues that were affected by Helene and lost a significant amount or all of their operational equipment, I formally request assistance to help these leagues be able to offer spring programs without interruption. These leagues start registration in January and begin practice in late February or early March. This matter is somewhat time-sensitive as leagues are beginning to prepare for the 2025 season, and for these players, the news of a season would be welcomed in the wake of this tragedy.

Curtis Lambert, District 5 Administrator