The Britton Baseball and Softball program was recently selected by the Minnesota Twins as a recipient for the 2024 Fields for Kids Grant from the Twins Community Fund. This grant will help fund improvements to the ballpark.
The Twins Community Fund’s Fields for Kids grant program provides financial support to improve baseball and softball facilities for youth in the Upper Midwest and Southwest Florida. The program makes matching grants to nonprofit organizations and local government units that operate baseball and/or softball programs. Since its inception in 1999, the Fields for Kids program has granted more than $5 million to improve nearly 825 ballfields across Twins Territory.
“The Twins Community Fund is committed to making sure kids across Twins Territory have the support, equipment, and safe places to play the games they love. We’re proud to provide grants that help communities empower young people and foster belonging through these games,” said Kristin Rortvedt, Executive Director of the Twins Community Fund.
Locally, the $6,000 in funds will be spent to improve the south field at the ballpark by reorienting the field and rebuilding the entire area for primarily safety purposes. Completion of the entire south field project will create a beautiful and safe spot for teams to practice, games to be held, and fans to gather and cheer on their favorite teams.
“We are so very thankful for the grant money we received through the Minnesota Community Fund,” said fundraising committee member Kyla Richter. “As a small town located just short of an hour from the Minnesota border, our local Twins fans are abundant. Many of our families travel to Minneapolis and are big supporters of baseball and softball. We hope that we put this money to good use and continue to inspire our youth to play ball.”
The Britton Baseball and Softball Organization also announced they have been selected to receive three Junior Twins Equipment Kits. This new equipment donation will help keep registration costs low and make the game accessible for youth participants, said the Baseball and Softball board.
The Twins Community Fund’s Junior Twins Equipment Kit Program provides new equipment kits to youth baseball and softball organizations in their territories. The program offers new, age-appropriate equipment including gloves, balls, bats, helmets, and catcher’s sets. Britton’s ball program is one of just twenty organizations to receive one of the equipment kits with an estimated value of around $5,000.
Fundraising committee member and softball coach Jeff Mills said, “We are very honored to receive these kits. Having enough safe equipment available to our teams is helpful and really exciting.”
