As the leaves began to change color and the air grew crisp, the volunteers of Ona-Milton Little League were making their way to the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival, but they weren’t there to enjoy the famous pumpkin ice cream. Instead, the nearly 100 volunteers were there to park vehicles as part of the program’s annual fundraiser, which has positively impacted both the league and the community for the past two decades.
“Over the years, it has just grown and grown. We look at it more as a community resource rather than just focusing on us benefiting from it, or receiving funds from it,” said Corky Dowdy, Ona-Milton Little League President. “We try to be efficient not only to get more cars into help Ona-Milton Little League, but to really help the city, the community, and the festival, which brings thousands and thousands of people to the area, and it has been for the last 40 years. The community does a lot to make it successful, and if we can help in any way to alleviate the tax on the community, we are going to do what we can.”
Over the course of the four-day festival, the volunteers parked approximately 7,000 cars. As each car pulls in, the smiling faces of the players, coaches, umpires, and league families greet them and request that people pay whatever they can. This year, the fundraiser raised more than $20,000.
“Our community is supportive. At the end of the day, we don’t have big donors coming in and dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars to help us out. It’s the local, small families that may not be able to donate funds, but they will donate time,” said Dowdy. “They’ll come pick up debris after the floods. They will help get fields prepped. It’s a tight-knit community that helps us do what we need to do.”
Every year, before the fundraiser begins, the league officers identify what areas of the operations the funds will support with two goals in mind:
- Increase accessibility so more community families can get involved
- Get more games in while the good weather lasts.
With the funds raised at this year’s event, the league will achieve both goals by purchasing a new tractor, which will help them maintain the conditions of the two complexes they have across 20 acres of land, and by putting a portion of the funds into their scholarships program.
“I think that every kid should have a chance to play no matter the circumstance,” said Chris Wallace, Ona-Milton Little League Vice President. “Sometimes the only refuge they have from a rough day is coming to the ball field. So, being able to give out scholarships or buy them pants, gloves, cleats, whatever it is, is everything. All they have to do is send us a message, and it’s going to happen, because we are not going to let them go without.”
The West Virginia Pumpkin Festival is the only fundraiser the league hosts, which is a fact that both Wallace and Dowdy recognize is not the norm for other leagues. Wallace and Dowdy are grateful to the Ona-Milton community for giving them the opportunity to be a part of the festival and for coming together to support the league, including the food donations from one of the local pizza shops.
“Our community is like a family. The people who came out and helped this past weekend weren’t just parents from our league this season. They are alumni, they are councilmen, they are neighbors, grandmas, people without kids in the league,” said Wallace. “Little League is all volunteer. None of us gets anything out of this except for the kids, and that is what we are here for. We are one big family, and when things get tough, we always come together and have each other’s backs.”
For those who are looking for new ways to raise funds for the upcoming season, Dowdy has this advice:
“Get creative with the resources available to you. If we didn’t have the pumpkin festival, if we didn’t have that capability or that fundraiser availability, you know, looking at other leagues around us or throughout the country to see what they are doing, I think is a good way to start.”