The Walnutport Borough Park will celebrate its 75th anniversary since being incorporated this December. 

To properly mark the occasion, Eric Heiney set an ambitious goal. He wanted to raise $7,500 for through the Dream Come True Blue Ridge Chapter Annual Charity Baseball/Softball Game, as it takes place in the borough park each year. 

“I’m not a doctor, so I can’t help the children that way,” Heiney said last Saturday, “but I can help make them happy.” 

Heiney, who chairs the event, said he sent letter after letter to local businesses and people he thought might be willing to contribute, either monetarily or by making a donation for a basket raffle.

Not only did the community step up to the plate; they knocked Heiney’s target out of the park.

Two games took place over the weekend, one for younger players (8-10u) and another for older ones (12-14u). It was boys versus girls, with teams coming from either Northern Lehigh or Walnutport leagues.

Each game mixed the two sports rules. But 15-year-old Brianna Kuhns, a softball player, said she wasn’t worried about the change in pitch.

 “I don’t know how the boys will catch up to us,” she said just before the first game kicked off. 

Dream Come True is a nonprofit dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of chronically or terminally ill kids. And with the price of things like airfare rising, the organization is grateful for the help, Gail Maholick, a board member of Dream Come True Blue Ridge Chapter, said. 

“Our dreams cost a lot more than they used to,” Maholick said.

Through donation collections, a basket raffle and food sales, this year’s games raised $11,000, Heiney said. The park will present their earnings this November at the Dream Come True Blue Ridge Chapter telethon.

It will all go toward brightening the lives of local kids who need it. 

A basket raffle featuring gift cards, candy and other prizes was set up at Saturday’s games. DANIELLE DERRICKSON/TIMES NEWS

10-year-old Addison Smith, right, who has been playing softball for two years, warms up for the first of two games that took place at Dream Come True Blue Ridge Chapter’s annual charity baseball/softball event Saturday. DANIELLE DERRICKSON/TIMES NEWS