4/17/08
Prothro Chevy to partner with youth baseball and softball
By Jerriod Grizzle

JERRIOD GRIZZLE/Manning Times

Two players with the Event Foto team practice before a game April 12. Local Chevy dealer Prothro Chevrolet will support youth baseball and softball.

With the baseball fever taking hold this past week, it’s going to be a good season win or lose for Clarendon County Youth Baseball and Softball.

In the spirit of community collaboration and teamwork taught through youth sports, Prothro Chevrolet has developed a partnership with the baseball and softball program through the Chevy Youth Baseball program that will include both monetary and equipment donations during the 2008 Little League season.

Now in its third year, Chevy Youth Baseball is an initiative that establishes a positive relationship between local dealers and the communities they serve.

“Chevy has always been about baseball and it is a good program for everyone,” said Lee Stogner, business manager for Prothro Chevrolet.

With youth baseball season already in full swing Clarendon County Recreation Director LeBon Joye said that the program has already helped everyone involved.

“It is a grand opportunity for us. Prothro has already donated a number of equipment kits for us which includes equipment, bags, ball buckets and t-shirts,” he said. “Baseball and softball lets kids have fun and gives them something to do while teaching them life lessons.”

On top of the donations of equipment, Prothro is also donating a Chevy Tahoe SUV that will be raffled off with the youth baseball and softball program keeping 100 percent of the proceeds.

“The money we make is going to stay in the department and I have things that I would like to do with the money to enhance the baseball and softball program,” Joye said.

Teams will also have the unique experiences by participating in baseball clinics and other activities such as all-star games.

During the 2007 Little League baseball season, more than 70 Chevrolet dealers from the Metro Atlanta and Tampa areas helped generate close to $300,000 in donations from the dealerships and private parties. The dealers also donated $112,000 as a result of the Home Run Derby, a program conducted in conjunction with the Atlanta Braves and the Tampa Bay Rays.