Every fall, the Hillsborough Raider Diamond Club holds a pie sale to help raise money for the Hillsborough High School baseball program.
In addition to selling pies, the Diamond Club also donated pies from both Griggstown Farm and Super Sundaes to the Hillsborough Food Bank this Thanksgiving.
The Diamond Club donated a total of 39 pies to the food bank on Nov. 23, helping those in need have a traditional holiday meal during these tough times.
“It was nice to give people close to a real Thanksgiving as they usually do,” Hillsborough Raider Diamond Club President Fred Versaci said. “The more we can do, the better.”
Versaci was pitched the idea of donating pies to the food bank by Amy Radomski, who found out that the food bank was organizing Thanksgiving dinners for families who were hit hard this year by the coronavirus pandemic.
Radomski was told that the food bank didn’t have any desserts as part of the meal and thought it was a good idea to suggest to Versaci that the club make it an option to donate pies to the food bank as part of its fundraiser.
“It’s wonderful to help support the community,” Radomski said. “It’s a great thing.”
Versaci was all for Radomski’s “great idea” and gave the go ahead to Rebecca Barajas, the club’s pie sale chairperson, to coordinate with the food bank on how many pies they needed.
Barajas was told that there were around 43 families that would be given Thanksgiving meals from the food bank.
She then reached out to all the parents of the players in the program about donating pies to the food bank.
“We had a lot of parents generously donate pies to the food bank,” Barajas said. “We were able to help the majority of families that were receiving a Thanksgiving meal.”
Prices to purchase a pie from both establishments ranged from $18-$24.
As for the baseball program’s pie sale, the Diamond Club sold a total of 663 pies and made a total of $13,115. The 663 pies top last year’s sale of 294 pies.
Barajas credits the success of the sale to the outreach from parents and the Diamond Club on social media.
“We did really well,” Barajas said. “The community was very supportive of our cause.”
For the remainder of the month, the Diamond Club will be running its annual Rent a Raider fundraiser, where people in the Hillsborough community can “borrow” players from the baseball team for $12 an hour to assist them with any chores around the house.
“It’s who the baseball team is,” Barajas said. “They’re good people. They have a real sense of community and responsibility of helping the community.”