Freehold Rotary Club Announces $1,300 in Donations

The Freehold Rotary Club announced two donations by the service organization on Monday, Sept. 12.

The group contributed $800 to the Freehold Borough Bulldogs, a travel baseball team for 11 and 12 year olds. The Bulldogs are the only travel baseball team in the municipality; they are coached by Brian Balka.

"Many of the players on the team cannot afford the tournament fees and other costs associated with travel baseball," said Don Cruz, acting president of the Freehold Rotary Club. "In providing the donation, the board realized that the Bulldogs offer one of the few recreational opportunities for borough children at that age level who want to play baseball at an advanced level."

In addition, the Freehold Rotary Club donated $500 to the Freehold Borough Educational Foundation’s (FBEF) efforts to raise money for the school district’s music program. The FBEF needed to raise $3,000 to qualify for a four to one matching grant from the Peter J. Sharp Foundation, which agreed to donate $12,000 if the organization met its goal. The FBEF raised the necessary fund by its September deadline. The money will be used to purchase new instruments.

"We are pleased that our donation was used to bring in another $2,000 for the district's music program, which has suffered from budget cutbacks in recent years," Cruz said. "Music is an important part of any curriculum, and all students, regardless of their economic circumstances should have an opportunity to learn to play an instrument."

The Freehold Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at . For more information, visit the organization’s Web site.