“I drove up over a hill and saw nothing but devastation. It was like a bomb went off and obliterated everything,” Oak Parker Jason Dorsey described a section of Joplin, Mo. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
Those were strong words coming from a war veteran, someone who has seen his share of devastation.
Dorsey, a Marine who fought the Taliban in Afghanistan, recently drove through the aftermath of the Category 5 tornado that tore a gash into the town of 50,000 on his way to see his wife and son who were visiting relatives in the area. Also a professional photographer, Dorsey took the photo that accompanies this column. He hasn’t been pleased with the way the media has backed off its coverage of the destruction that occurred on May 22.
Who can blame him? Especially when a politician who tweets scandalous photos of himself, lies about it and then admits to it, gets top billing.
“People need to know about what Joplin needs and what they can do to help,” Dorsey said before signing off.
Bill Ketcik, who has coached baseball in Oak Park for 15 years and is a board member for the Oak Park Youth Baseball/Softball Organization, felt compelled to help.
“Joplin is a big baseball community and I was able to get in contact with a youth baseball coach down there who said they had lost everything. I received approval from our board and we’re going to send all the extra equipment we can.”
Ketcik is sending uniforms, balls, bats, bases, catcher’s gear and other extra sports-related equipment to the town where Mickey Mantle once played minor league ball.
“We have the opportunity to help out,” explained Ketcik. “We try to refurbish equipment every couple of years, so we have some extra stuff.”
Ryan Wood, board president of Joplin South Little League, said his teams took two weeks off to recover and recoup, but are now, due to a consolidation with the Joplin North league where the ballfields were spared, back to playing ball.
“We’re getting back to somewhat of a sense of normalcy, and baseball has helped for the kids,” he said. “We lost a good portion of our equipment, some of which has been found in the rubble, but the outpouring of support has been tremendous. What we don’t replenish for next season we will pass along to a charity organization called Pitch In For Baseball, so others can benefit.”
People helping people helping people — brings tears to my eyes.
Contact: bspencer@oakpark.com
