ATHENS, Ga. — North Georgia Little League teams will soon get a chance to serve as champions for players with special needs.
Extra Special People (ESP), a nonprofit based near Athens, plans to launch "Baseball Buddies" in 2019.
"This will give young players a chance to undergo ability awareness and advocacy training and raise money for the ESP Miracle League program," said Laura Whitaker, Executive Director of ESP. "We aim to shift the mindset, deepen understanding and foster inclusiveness among our youth."
In August, ESP kicked off a new partnership with Miracle League, an organization that builds baseball and playground facilities for children with special needs.
Together, they plan to build the ESP Miracle League complex, which will include an accessible baseball field, splash pad and playground.
The mission of ESP is to offer kids with special needs the same opportunities as other kids, like playing sports, enjoying after-school activities like cooking and dance and attending summer camp.
"Families get to see their child come to life while they have the opportunity to play, engage with friends and be a part of a team," said Whitaker. "Through my lens, I have seen that it is life-giving to our society as a whole. We are seeing that typical kids are learning life from kids with disabilities."
Whitaker said "Baseball Buddies" will be an extension of ESP's Lemonade Leaders, a program for typical children ages eight to 11 who want to help send their friends with disabilities to camp by setting up lemonade stands benefiting ESP.
The kids participate in a four-part training program to learn about ability awareness, advocacy and service.
"Each part of the training covers a different, relevant topic for the Leaders," Whitaker explained. "They have learned about interacting with people with disabilities and why ESP is important to the families who have children with special needs and desire emotional support."
The Leaders create and promote their own stand, set their own goals and later present their donation to campers at Camp Hooray, which is run by ESP.
ESP has engaged more than 30 Lemonade Leaders in less than a year since inception, and its Leaders have raised more than $7,000 collectively.
"Their impact has extended far beyond the dollars raised," added Whitaker. "They have become incredible new volunteers and advocates for ESP, supporting our programs and sharing about how to engage with people with different abilities to their peers and communities."
The fundraising done through Lemonade Leaders is an extension of ESP’s year-round giving program, the ESP Fan Club.
The Fan Club allows the community to support ESP’s year-round programs like summer camp and after-school with a monthly contribution.
