Univest Employees 'Pitch In' During United Way Day of Caring

Score one for furthering the mission of Pitch In For Baseball.
The Towamencin nonprofit, located in a small warehouse at 1541 Gehman Road, was founded in 2005 by David Rhode. It provides donated new and gently-used baseball and softball equipment—bats, balls, gloves, cleats, helmets, you name it—to youth in the United States and worldwide.
"Our executive director (Rhode) felt that there was so much used baseball equipment, and rather it sit in basements or garages, we can recycle it and use it in a way that takes advantage of the resources available to us," said Meredith Kim, director of development for Pitch In For Baseball. 
On Wednesday, two companies pitched in to make the nonprofit a little bit better during the North Penn United Way Day of Caring: Clemens Family Corp. and Univest Bank. Employees from the former helped unpack 30 boxes and organize and sort equipment in the nonprofit's warehouse, as well as pack shipments to Brazil and Uganda. Employees from the latter—which included director of training Kim Drake, wire transfer clerk Karen Scriniere, financial reporting and tax analyst B.J. Slachta and accounting operations manager Tom Giuffrida—repainted the office walls to the nonprofit's colors of black and red. 
"We're involved every year in Day of Caring, throughout the whole area. We've had years where we've had more volunteers than projects," said Drake. "We're a community bank and we believe in giving back to the community. That's who we are."
Kim said more people should be aware of the opportunities at the United Way.
"Unfortunately, I feel the United Way is one of the untapped resources that no one knows about," Kim said.
Pitch In For Baseball doesn't stop at donations of equipment. It also aids in disaster relief and social responsibility. Pitch In For Baseball has helped out in cleanup efforts in Japan, the Gulf Coast, Missouri and North Dakota. About 90 percent of equipment that Pitch In For Baseball gives back to the community comes from efforts of children doing community service projects, Eagle Scout projects and Mitzvah projects.
In 2013, Pitch In For Baseball help rebuild the supply of more than 24 Little League teams in New Jersey and New York who lost everything to Hurricane Sandy. The Ugandan Little League team reaching the Little League World Series in 2012 would not have been possible without contributions from Pitch In For Baseball.
The nonprofit also works with Little League International, USA Baseball, Major League Baseball's RBI Program and Wilson Sports.
"We all partner for the shared vision of growing the game and making baseball visible," Kim said. "We have created a diverse level of funding sources and stakeholders to help achieve our goals."