North Camden Little League boosted by anonymous donor

One in an occasional series.

One day early in 2012, Bryan Morton found himself giving a tour of North Camden's baseball fields to a man he'd never met before. All Morton knew was that the man had money, and that he was thinking of donating to Morton's fledgling Little League.

As they toured the dilapidated fields where members of the newly formed North Camden Little League played, Morton explained that baseball helped families feel connected to their community. He told of how sports could teach children about a world beyond the city's drug-ridden streets, and how he dreamed of a citywide league.

The man, a baseball fan and retired businessman in his 60s who lives in Moorestown, shared his own memories of playing Little League with his friends in South Jersey. He said he would send a check.

A week later, Morton's wife called her husband at work. The check had arrived. "It's $10,000," she said.

The contribution changed everything for the North Camden Little League, and began its transformation from a group of 110 kids playing in sweatpants on dirty grass to a 501(c)(3) organization with close to 500 players, an awards banquet, and corporate donors across South Jersey.

Since it began in 2011, the all-volunteer league has become one of Camden's largest and most celebrated youth organizations. But the league's first significant benefactor, who has donated more than $50,000, has refused to be named or recognized publicly. He declined to speak for this article even when promised anonymity.

Morton, a Camden native who returned home after serving prison time for drugs and robbery and became an activist, said that before that $10,000 donation, he faced hostility from community members who found him pushy, or doubted his ability to get the league off the ground.

"This was validation that what I was doing was correct," Morton said. "And the speed at which we were able to grow is attributed to him."

Morton met that first big donor through Sister Helen Cole, a social worker who for 20 years has run Guadalupe Family Services in North Camden. The man showed up at her doorstep about five years ago after reading an article about Cole's annual vigil for the city's homicide victims. He said his family ran a successful business serving parts of South Jersey, including Camden, and he liked to help worthy causes such as her organization.

Cole told him about Guadalupe's work, including its youth summer camp, and said she hoped to start a teen camp. A week later, he sent Cole his first of many donations, more than enough for her to organize a weeklong camp with zip-lining, a Broadway show, and more.

When the man asked Cole to suggest other groups in need, one of several she mentioned was the league. Cole had donated $200 to Morton in 2011 - unheard of, given that her own nonprofit depends on contributions.

"About a week later, Bryan came running up the steps crying," she said. "He just said, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' "

The $10,000 donation, about four times the annual budget at the time, allowed Morton to double the league's size and expand its age bracket. It paid for field equipment such as brooms, trash bags, and chalk, and crisp uniforms for games against competitors - a priority Morton had discussed with his new benefactor.

"Kids can tell the difference when they don't measure up," Morton said. "They can tell 'less than.' And he appreciated that."

The league gets practice shirts and hats through the Phillies' RBI program and uniforms from Mount Laurel's MJ Corp., which sells them at reduced prices. The $25-per-child registration fees offset but do not cover the cost of uniforms, which run at least $55, Morton said.

Until this season, most players had scholarships or paid partial fees. Now 80 percent of them pay, a shift Morton said shows that parents now see the value of the investment. He also allows parents to pay in installments.

A year after his first big donation, the league's anonymous donor contributed $15,000 more. Morton began using the money to leverage support from companies and organizations such as the Camden Riversharks, Cooper University Hospital, Cherry Hill's Signarama, and the West Berlin-based Townsend Press, which publishes educational materials. Townsend this year was responsible for the league's largest gift: $30,000, said Morton, which brought the 2015 operating budget to $50,000.

Since buying equipment for the concession stand at Pyne Poynt Park, the league has begun generating enough money to pay for umpires, a cost previously borne by coaches.

Between game balls and umpires, who cost $40 to $50 per game, some coaches with multiple teams spent up to $400 over one summer, Morton said. There were times they didn't have money for umpires and had to forfeit games. The league lost good coaches over it, he said.

The league still depends entirely on donations, particularly the girls' softball division, which began last year and has not yet amassed enough equipment or coaches to grow as quickly as Morton would like. Of the three North Camden fields where teams play, only Pyne Poynt has received any significant improvements in recent years.

The league has partnered with the Mastery charter school in North Camden, which contributes funds through grants, and with the Food Trust and Campbell Soup Co. Organizers are looking at ways to make the league self-sustaining by selling T-shirts or possibly bidding on the landscaping contract for Pyne Poynt Park, which was refurbished last year and is now maintained by a private company.

Townsend general manager George Henry said he and another company representative were impressed after meeting Morton last year and talking with him on the porch of his family's North Camden home.

"It's one thing to contribute finances to an organization," Henry said. "It's another to contribute sweat equity. That's more difficult and that's what Bryan and his team are doing."

The league's first benefactor has remained an occasional, if elusive, presence in North Camden. Occasionally on summer evenings and weekends, he can be found sitting in the stands at Pyne Poynt Park, taking in a game.

"I invite him every year," Morton said. "I never know when he's going to show up."

856-779-3876@AESteele