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Charity work continues to be priority for Cutters

August 31, 2005 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Haven County Cutters News Release


The New Haven County Cutters have maintained one goal other than winning baseball games in their first two seasons at Yale Field, and that is to get involved with charities as frequently as they can. They have had an attachment to at least 87 different charities this year.

So it seems only fitting that the Can-Am League team end up its second season with one more charity attachment, an event which probably will go down as one of the most impressive.

The Cutters and eight area fire departments are forming a potent double play combination in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association annual Labor Day weekend telethon. New Haven County, which also is trying to wrap up its first divisional championship on the field, will host the inaugural Firefighter Softball Tournament during the four-day weekend Friday-Monday when the Cutters and first half winner Worcester, MA will be going head to head. Cutters games are at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday with day games (2:05) the last two days.

To put a baseball twist to it, the Cutters are˜going to bat with the firemen to help Jerry Kids, said General Manager Marie Heikkinen Webb.Anyone who has ever watched one of Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethons already knows how much firemen across this country do in the battle against Muscular Dystrophy.

Teams of firefighters from New Haven, West Haven, Bridgeport, East Haven, Milford, Shelton, Hamden, Stratford will take to the diamond to see who has Connecticut top softball team, but that is only a small point to the effort.

Each fire department is holding a ticket fundraiser as part of its MDA commitment. The price of each ticket is $8 with half of it going to MDA, and the buyer also will be able to watch as many as three or four Cutters games without spending another dime.

All eight fire department teams will play their first game on Friday or Saturday, and for as long as the team a fan buys a ticket from stays in the tournament the ticket-holder can see that day's Cutters game without any additional purchase. The winner of the tournament and the department raising the most money will each win an individual prize, both of which will be awarded during the final game of the regular season, September 5 (Labor Day) at 2:05 p.m.

The New Haven Register is co-sponsoring the event.

The charitable mindset of the Cutters organization comes straight from the top and resonates within each member of the team staff.

Community involvement has always been a top priority for our owner, Jonathan Fleisig, said Ms. Heikkinen Webb.With all of his teams he stresses the importance of using our influence as a professional sports team to help charities. We are not just Jonathan's team, we are in fact New Haven County's team, and therefore we find a great deal of responsibility and obligation to give as much as we can to the community.

There are myriad ways in which the Cutters participate in helping the community. Ticket fundraising is something that multiple charities have chosen to do this season. The premise behind it is simple: the Cutters provide a block of tickets to the charity which in turn sells them and keeps half of the proceeds. A total of 42 ticket fundraisers will be held by season end.

Two of the more prominent organizations the team has worked with over the summer are the American Red Cross and the Ronald McDonald House.

The Cutters have sponsored multiple blood drives, offering tickets to anyone donating blood, and hosted their own drive at Yale Field on July 10. During that drive, 33 pints of blood were donated, enough to save 99 lives.

The Ronald McDonald House celebrated its 20th birthday at a Cutters game June 19. In addition to a ticket fundraiser, there was a giant cake presentation and a tennis ball toss with proceeds going to the House.

More than 30 charities, including the American Liver Foundation and the Easter Seals, have received donations from the team. Contributing tickets or a night in the luxury suite is something that the Cutters have done often this season.

Tripper, the team mascot, has been all over the New Haven County area participating in events held by the various non-profit organizations.

The Cutters dedication is most evident by the conspicuous appearance of a charity at every home game this year. Not a single home date has gone by without at least one non-profit organization in attendance at Yale Field. It is not that rare of an occasion to see multiple charities at a game.

We want people to see first hand that the Cutters are involved in their lives and that we mean more to them than just a fun place to go on a summer day, Ms. Heikkinen Webb said.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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