N.J. Little League asking for public's help after person stole lawn tractor
MAGNOLIA, N.J. (CBS) -- We are only a few weeks away in the Philadelphia area from smelling that fresh-cut grass of Major League Baseball. Hearing the crack of the bat and the pop of the popcorn.
But in South Jersey, a Little League is scrambling to get the fields ready after a major piece of equipment was stolen.
Around the Magnolia Little League Complex, Gregg Dibartolomeo is now increasing security and installing surveillance cameras after he says the league was thrown a curveball.
"This organization has been here since 1954 and we've never had something of this magnitude," Dibartolomeo said.
Dibartolomeo is the president of the Little League in Magnolia, New Jersey, a small borough in Camden County.
But a few months back, he says the $9,000 commercial lawn tractor used to maintain four baseball fields was stolen from the equipment shed.
"They broke off the handle here and pushed the lock out and from there were able to force the door open," Dibartolomeo said.
Dibartolomeo told CBS News Philadelphia the league filed a police report but recently learned the tractor was never added to the borough's insurance policy.
The league provides a safe place for roughly 80 kids to play baseball -- but right now it doesn't have the money to buy a new lawn tractor.
"Yes, we're going to have a season but we're gonna have to pitch in a little more and work a little harder," Becky Lang Staffieri said.
Some parents have been donating hours of their time --- cutting the grass themselves to get the fields ready for the spring season.
The league is 100% volunteer, so now it's raising money on GoFundMe to replace the tractor, keep the opening day on schedule and it's asking for help.
"It's a close-knit community where we come together and when something like this happens, it really affects everyone," Lang Staffieri said.
The president of the league says a landscaping company offered to help out this weekend during a field cleanup, but if the league can't reach that fundraising goal by opening day, it's asking for more help and more volunteers to come forward.