The DeCamp’s Band of Brothers Fund was started in 2014 by friends of Jeff DeCamp who sought to honor their long-time friend, who passed away in 2013 after a battle with cancer. Jeff loved and played all sports and was on the 1987 La Porte High School baseball team that won the IHSAA State Championship. Jeff made lifelong friends through sports and learned valuable life lessons through his participation. He loved spending time with his sons, Justin and Dane, and displayed an amazing love for life. It is this passion for sports, love for kids and amazing capacity to help others that our group wants to perpetuate in Jeff’s name. In the spirit of Jeff De Camp, donations to this fund will support charitable causes, especially programs designed to enrich the lives of youth through participation in positive sports programs, primarily in or near La Porte.
Through this charitable foundation, we have worked in harmony with the La Porte Park Department and the La Porte High School baseball staff and athletic department for their support in generating funds to renovate a long time neighborhood park. Clarke Park currently has two baseball diamonds, one of which is the home of the La Porte junior varsity baseball team and summer recreational baseball. The field is owned by the La Porte Park Department, which allows the La Porte Community School Coproration to utilize the facility at no charge. These organizations alone don’t have the financial means to fund a renovation of this size. DeCamp’s Band of Brothers has gotten the approval to move forward on raising funds to renovate this long standing park.
The scope of the project is currently cut into phases with the first being the renovation of the main Clarke Field baseball diamond, including the bullpen and dugout areas. The estimated cost for this renovation is approximately $160,000-$170,000 which would include a completely updated field similar to the standards you see currently at other Duneland Conference high schools. This would allow the park department to attract larger tournaments and events to our community supporting economic development initiatives. The facility would be more secure with updated gating and fencing to provide long-term durability for our youth to enjoy for years to come.
The official fundraising campaign is being kicked off with a golf outing for long-time friends and anyone who wishes to support this worthwhile event. The golf outing will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at Beechwood Golf Course in La Porte. We are reaching out to the entire community for this campaign. DeCamp’s Band of Brothers is looking for people to invest in the community and help us support youth initiatives in La Porte. If you wish to make a tax deductible contribution please visit http://uflc.net/funds/contribute-online/decamps-band-of-brothers-fund/. The foundation is set up through the Unity Foundation of La Porte County. You can also mail a check to Unity Foundation, P.O. Box 527, Michigan City, IN 46361. All the funds contributed will go directly to this specific project. We will also be looking for in-kind donations of labor or materials to complete this project. We have attached a rendering of the project for a better understanding of the scope of this campaign.
If you would like any additional information please contact Mike Riehle at 219-575-2038 or riehles@comcast.net or Mark Schreiber at 219-326-9600 or mschreiber@cityoflaporte.org.
Clarke Park rendering of proposed renovation: The initial phase of the project mentioned would entail the development of the baseball field, which includes infield, outfield, fencing and dugout and bull pen renovation.