Bat-ter Up for the Food Pantry
Local boy hopes people will dress up & play at Halloween sand-lot baseball game this Saturday
BAR HARBOR—Some are young men of few words, but great deeds and Thatcher Yarbrough is one of those young men.
Thatcher is hosting a Halloween baseball game at the Bar Harbor Baseball Fields off Park Street to support the Bar Harbor Food Pantry. Adults and kids are invited to play.
Thatcher and his family will provide light snacks and drinks and music. He and his family live on the Mount Desert side of Otter Creek and come to Bar Harbor to participate in youth sports all year long.
Thatcher, 12, wants to have a group play a “sandlot style” baseball game dressed in their Halloween costumes.
So that means the catcher might be a pumpkin or a vampire. The pitcher could be big foot or a unicorn. Monsters or minions or manatees might be in the outfield. Who knows what might happen? That’s part of the fun, really.
That fun is all to support the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, which is why he’s asking every player to bring a non-perishable food item for the pantry. Thatcher needs a few adults to help umpire, keep order, and score as well. The game starts at 2 p.m., on Saturday, October 19.
Thatcher said he got the idea from a YouTube video and he picked a Halloween baseball game “because I love baseball and wanted to do a food drive to help the community.”
The Bar Harbor Food Pantry is currently in the process of renovating the former Mama DiMatteo’s property at the end of Rodick Street, which will be its new home. Future plans for its nearby resale clothing shop and boutique Serendipity have not been finalized, but according to volunteer Dixie Hathaway, they are always looking for volunteers for this entirely volunteer-run arm of the Bar Harbor Food Pantry.
“It really is fun and rewarding to volunteer at Serendipity,” Hathaway said. “We meet so many great people and see close-up how much our services are appreciated.”
The food pantry, said Director Tom Reeves, has had its busiest year to date. Many months this summer, the pantry averaged 100 people every day. The need, he said, is huge.
“I don’t know what I would have done without the support and connection I’ve found at the pantry. We hope that things will pick up soon. But for now, having support from the pantry, it just peels away one layer of worry for my family. And I will never forget that. Ever,” said Colleen, one food pantry user.
For Thatcher, supporting the pantry’s efforts in a fun way that also builds community is a no-brainer. And he also chose the pantry to benefit because it’s close to the holidays.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To check out the event on Facebook, go here.
To sign up to volunteer at Serendipity, go here.
To learn more about the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, click here.
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