Last week, the University of Minnesota Duluth baseball and softball clubs donated their unneeded equipment to the Helping Kids Round First -- a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged youth through baseball, currently focused in Nicaragua.

Craig Severtson, a former South Dakota amateur baseball player, aided in founding the program. Severtson stopped by the campus to collect the excess Bulldog items. UMD loaded up the trailer for Severtson and the organization with bats, helmets, gloves, a couple sets of catching gear, baseballs, softballs, whiffle balls, a pitching machine, uniforms, bat bags and other instructional tools.



Since 2009, Helping Kids Round First has been collecting used baseball and softball equipment and assisting in organizing baseball clinics within the rural communities. They travel to Nicaragua every 4-6 weeks bringing baseball and softball gear, school supplies, medical equipment, and agricultural resources to impoverished communities. As recently as of 2016, Helping Kids Round First gave women the same opportunity to participate in sports by giving equal amount of equipment to support new teams in each community including being the primary sponsor of the Academia Mimadas Rubilena Rojas, the only softball academy in the country located in Managua, Nicaragua.



The donated equipment that was sent to Severtson will be shipped in two weeks and will be arriving to coaches, community and church leaders next month. For more information about Helping Kids Round First, visit their website here.