Belmont Little League Thankful for Community After Help with Stolen Equipment

Photo Courtesy of The Herald-News Website

According to The Herald-News website, the Belmont Little League in Joliet is thankful for the community after helping them when all of their field and baseball equipment was reportedly stolen almost two weeks before opening day.

Rick Brown, president of the Joliet youth baseball league, said he went to the shed where the league stores their equipment and noticed there was no longer a lock on the door, according to the source. He opened up the shed and saw “everything was gone.”

The items stolen included rolls of fencing, field draggers, stainless steel table tops and baseball bats. “I didn’t even have any bats to hand out to the kids,” Brown said.

League staff reported the thefts to the Will County Sheriff’s Office and they tried to track down the equipment at scrap yards and sporting goods retailers, but neither the league nor the sheriff’s office had luck finding the equipment, according to the Joliet Patch website.

Businesses, Little League alumni and other people in the community responded with cash and equipment donations. Brown told reporters one company donated a lawnmower.

Little League alumni and Joliet City Councilman Don "Duck" Dickinson was one of the many people to help the Belmont Little League. Dickinson said he donated $200 to a fundraiser on Facebook for the little league.

As of April 7, the fundraiser has ended. In total, the Belmont Little League raised $8,503 of their $10,000 goal to replace the stolen equipment.

Chad Smeets, the creator of the Facebook fundraiser, posted on the fundraiser’s page, “It is going to be a pleasure to deliver a check for thousands of dollars to the Belmont Little League before opening day. I hope as many people in the area will join me as well. Joliet is full of love!”

According to the Belmont Little League website, the 68th Annual Opening Day Ceremonies are set for April 20th, 2019 at 10 a.m. at 651 Highland Parkway in Joliet.