There may be a foot of snow on the ground but you know spring is around the corner when major league pitchers and catchers report to spring training. That happens in a little more than a week, meaning that little leaguers will soon be running the bases as well.
Little leaguers in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Kan., will have Jaxson Dubinsky to thank as they hit the fields this spring when they get a chance to use equipment he helped to collect.
Jaxson thought it would be a good idea to commemorate the memory of a former baseball coach, the late Mark Boresow, when he made plans for his mitzvah project prior to his Oct. 2 Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth Torah. At the time, he never imagined he could help hundreds of kids fulfill their dreams. But a few months later, the teen found himself bound for Philadelphia in a truck filled with bats, gloves and hundreds more pieces of baseball gear he collected for Pitch In For Baseball (PIFB), a non-profit organization that distributes baseball equipment to programs serving underprivileged kids throughout the United States and the world (www.pitchinforbaseball.org).
But only about half of the equipment made the trip east. The remaining equipment — nearly 500 items — will stay in Kansas City with the KCK RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program. Many kids don’t have the resources available to play baseball, said Cle Ross, executive director of the Kansas City chapter of Major League Baseball’s RBI program.
Jaxson said he chose this project because he’s played baseball since he was 3 years old.
“I wanted to give other kids the same possibilities I have when it comes to baseball, so they can enjoy it as much as I do,” he said.
Jaxson, a seventh-grade student at Overland Trail Middle School, noted that if Coach Boresow was able, “he would have made it possible for everyone to play baseball. But in 2008 he died in an accident, and he was a huge inspiration to me.”
“I feel like I’m honoring him by giving more kids the tools they need to play ball,” he said.
His goal was to collect at least 500 pieces of equipment, and he achieved about double that goal. Jaxson’s father, Steve Dubinsky, explained that he first got permission to collect equipment at his school.
“He made signs and placed barrels throughout the school where kids could drop their equipment. Also he sent a letter to those invited to the Bar Mitzvah,” Steve Dubinsky said.
A supportive father, he helped as well.
“I also sent a note to people I know who coach baseball, have kids, etc. and one of those people was Jeremy McDowell, who is a tournament director,” Steve Dubinsky said.
McDowell invited Jaxson to collect equipment at his tourney. He also donated $600 worth of tournament vouchers as prizes to the top three teams who collected the most equipment. Blue Valley Recreation, where Jaxson plays baseball, also donated items in the organization’s lost and found to the collection.
PIFB distributes equipment all over the world, from the Philippines to Philly, but Jaxson wanted to be sure the equipment he collected helped kids in his hometown. So David Rhode, founder and executive director of PIFB, introduced Jaxson to Cle Ross, and Dubinsky split his donation.
Jaxson’s donation sets a new standard in terms of the distance driven to make a donation. The Dubinsky family, including Jaxson, his parents, his sister and his dog, drove 1,200 miles from Leawood to deliver the equipment to PIFB distribution center in Harleysville, Penn.
Dubinsky’s donation included 200 balls, 150 gloves, 150 pair of cleats, 100 bats, 40 equipment bags, 20 complete sets of catchers gear, dozens of pairs of baseball pants, caps and other assorted accessories.
“This young man is setting an important example to his peers,” said Rhode. “This one-time collection is a significant accomplishment, but Jaxson has an opportunity to continue his service, whether it’s with us here at PIFB, the RBI program in Kansas City, or both.”
Jaxson said he couldn’t have accomplished this success without the help of others. He thanks Midwest Sports Productions for letting him collect equipment at the Monster Bash baseball tournament, and Bobby Hennessey at Honda of Tiffany Springs for letting his family borrow the truck to drive to Pennsylvania.
