The Bridge Church sponsoring snowshoe softball event for a good cause
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — Members of the community will have a chance to play softball with a cold weather twist next month.
And they’ll be doing it for a good cause.
On Jan. 11, The Bridge Church in Idaho Falls is hosting its First Annual Snowshoe Softball Charity Tournament. The church hopes to raise money to buy materials to rebuild a house for a family in the Bahamas who was affected by Hurricane Dorian in September.
“We’re sending 12 people down to Hurricane Dorian relief in the Bahamas (in January). We’ve all paid our airline and our way to go,” church member Jay Spangenberg said. “All the proceeds will be used to help people.”
The volunteers going down to the Bahamas will help repair a home for three brothers whose mom passed away about three months before the hurricane struck. They used her life insurance to pay the house off. But they didn’t have homeowners insurance and when the storm hit, they didn’t have any funds to take care of the damage.
Florida residents Kevin and Shelly Fletcher are the Go Bahamas International Mission directors who are taking Spangenberg and his crew of locals to the island. They are one of 11 teams lined up to help in 2020. The Fletchers started the organization last year and even retired a few years early because they recognized how badly the Bahamas needed help.
Kevin is looking forward to what they will be able to accomplish.
“It makes everything I’m doing possible,” Kevin said. “I can go in and start working but it takes me forever, where if I can get a team, like Jay’s, if I can get a team like that coming in for one week, that’s exponential.”
To raise money, the church group hopes people will participate in the daylong softball tournament.
The softball teams are coed and ages 12 and up can participate. There doesn’t have to be a certain amount of men or women on a team. Each game is four innings long. Once a team losses twice, they’re out and the winning team receives a trophy.
There are 36 sets of snowshoes reserved that for a donation can be worn during the game, but players are encouraged to bring their own.
“We’re hoping that this is something that will catch on and we can do (help other organizations) every year,” Spangenberg said.
It costs $10 a person. The games will be held at the Community Park at 455 E 25th Street in Idaho Falls.
Teams need to be checked-in at the park by 9:30 a.m. on game day. Games will begin at 10 a.m.
For more information and to register go here.