Published: May 09, 2008 11:11 pm      

UMCH youths off to ballgame thanks to Eagles

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By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — A local riding club has made it their goal to keep giving to those in need in the area, and their first stop this year was the United Methodist Children’s Home. For the past year and a half, through fundraiser rides, raffles and 50/50 drawings, the Mt. Vernon Eagle Riders have been working toward giving the youths of the UMCH a special gift — tickets to attend a minor league baseball game between the Gateway Grizzlies and the Southern Illinois Miners.

“We secured enough for every kid and chaperones to attend,” said Eagle Riders member Kenny Heck.

The group presented 45 tickets to Tom Duff, treatment manager at UMCH.

“It’s overwhelming,” Duff said. “We don’t usually get something for all the kids.” Duff added that the baseball game will get the youths out and experience the “normalcy of a regular baseball game.”

He added sometimes there is a misconception about the UMCH and the work they do with youth. “A lot of times, publicity is bad,” he explained. “A lot of times we’re confused with an orphanage. What we’re doing is helping kids in need. A good portion of the youth here has never been to a [baseball] game.”

Heck said that the Eagle Riders felt that the youth of the UMCH often do not get the opportunity to do things others their age do. “That’s why we made the effort for these kids to have some normalcy. We’re people helping people. It’s a really good cause.”

“We want to be an organization the UMCH [and others] can turn to if in need,” said Dale Mays, vice president of the Eagle Riders. “This teaches our kids to give back.”

Heck, who along with his wife, Mary, adopted two children many years ago, said it was important to him to give the tickets to the UMCH. “It’s very special to me,” he said.

All members of the Eagle Riders are members of the Mt. Vernon Eagles Club. The riding group is one of three clubs in Illinois. Seven representatives of the group will also accompany the youths to the game.