The Lake Erie Crushers have held community outreach in high regard since its founding in 2009, according to co-owner Tom Kramig.
Since Kramig bought the team in 2016, the Crushers have been a leader in donation and community giveback in northern Ohio.
The team’s 2022 Community Impact Report highlighted that in addition to $25,000 in cash donations from the team, the Crushers have been prevalent around Avon and Lorain County at-large.
Over the course of 2022, the Crushers made donations to 106 local organizations, the team’s Community Impact Report said.
In 2023, the team hopes to continue supporting outreach initiatives, including its nonprofit ticket fundraising program, Kramig said.
“Any not for profit can come in, and go out and sell tickets and get a portion of the proceeds,” he said. “It’s just a great way for not for profits to go out and raise money for their own cause.
“When an organization gets behind it, it gets really involved.”
According to Kramig, some organizations involved in the ticket fundraising program can raise thousands of dollars in one night.
Additionally, the team’s themed jersey nights can net sizable sums of money to help team-partnered nonprofits, Kramig said.
“When we do those specialized jerseys that everybody loves … we auction those off after the game,” he said. “That auction money that they’re paying goes to a particular cause.
“For Military Appreciation Night, it’s going to go to local veterans organizations.”
Money is just the start, Kramig noted.
Outside of financial gains, the team spearheads a few causes itself, he said.
At the forefront of its public outreach is its Reading Club for youth.
“Right now, we’re knee deep in our Reading Club program,” Kramig said. “We’re going out to dozens of schools, talking to thousands of kids, trying to get them excited about reading.
“The way we do that is, if they read three books, they get a free ticket to a Crushers game.”
Last year, the Crushers gave out 16,000 of those ticket vouchers to over 17,000 total participants, according to the report.
For 2023, the team is looking to make this year’s Reading Club its most expansive effort to date, according to Kramig.
“It died for a couple years during COVID, because we couldn’t go into the schools,” he said. “Last year, and this year, it’s really started to ramp back up, because we can get back into the schools.”
The team holds various assemblies throughout the year to promote the Reading Club.
The team mascot, Stomper the Bear, who Kramig says is “a celebrity,” comes along for the ride.
“This year, I think we’re up over 25 (assemblies),” he said.
In addition to getting out into the community, the team is willing to donate its physical stadium to organizations that can use it, Kramig said.
“The last two years, we’ve done the Walk to End Alzheimer’s,” he said. “We try and change it up; we try not to do the same thing year-after-year.
“We try to spread it out, and share the wealth a little bit.”
The stadium donations, he said, become extremely popular once the Crushers’ season comes to a close in September.
Kramig explained that For The Love Of Softball, an Ohio-based nonprofit, has used the stadium donation to great effect in 2022, raising about $18,000 in a single event.
“They asked if they could come out and use the stadium for a ‘Hit-A-Thon,'” he said. “We donate the field to them, we don’t charge them the typical rental charge.
“Come on in, use the field, free of charge for four to six hours and see how much money you can raise.”
According to Kramig, the team’s ability to reach out and assist people around Lorain County is an immense team priority.
He and the team hope to carry their helping hand into the 2023 season and beyond.
“When you own a professional sports team … it carries with it some clout,” Kramig said. “And with that clout, you can make an impact in the community; you can bring attention to some of these causes.”
Any nonprofit looking to contact the team for opportunities can do so via the team’s website, lakeeriecrushers.com, or email the team at information@lakeeriecrushers.com.
