MERIDIAN — The Butler Township/Meridian Baseball Association is $5,000 richer, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pirates president Frank Coonelly and the Pirate Parrot visited the Meridian baseball complex Monday to present a check on behalf of the Pirates Charities' Fields for Kids program.

"It's important that we help feed kids' love and passion for baseball," Coonelly said. "Many of these people come to our games.

"Our fans support us and we want to support them."

Mike Kowalski, vice president of the Butler Township/Meridian Association, said the money will be used for fencing around either a Little League field at Meridian or a Pony League field at Adelman Park in Butler Township.

"We're going to decide where the money will be best spent and channel it in that direction," Kowalski said.

The association, which consists of 40 teams and 450 players who use nine fields, applied to the Fields for Kids program as part of its annual search for corporate donations.

"Every bit of our association is volunteer," Kowalski said. "We have four coaches per team and every parent helps out in some way, whether spending time in the concession stand or taking care of the fields."

Meridian resident Matt Clement, who retired as a major league pitcher this spring, helps coach a team that two of his sons play for.

"The Pirates haven't had a lot of things go right for them in recent years, but it's great they have a program that gives back to the community like this," Clement said. "Baseball associations like this can't exist without donations like this.

"The other unsung heroes here are the volunteers themselves. Some guys show up an hour before the games are scheduled to drag the field. Others take out garbage, cut the grass, etc. People volunteer their time and put up with gripes from parents on top of it. They really are heroes."

Clement said two teams he played with, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, have similar programs to help youth baseball.

"Most major league teams have charitable organizations that do things like that," he said. "People focus on the bad stuff, like how much money the players make or wrong choices of some athletes.

"Butler's not exactly right next door to Pittsburgh, yet the Pirates came all the way out here to do something positive. This is a good side of baseball that people miss."

Butler High graduate Patty Paytas, executive director of Pirate Charities, said the ballclub got the Fields for Kids idea from the Minnesota Twins.

""I'd love to say we came up with it on our own, but we stole it from them," she said. "The Twins have had a similar program in place for years and have done some marvelous things with it."

This is the first year of the Pirates Charities Fields for Kids program. The first period of Pirates Charities grants resulted in 14 youth baseball/softball organizations covering 10 counties receiving a total of $62,000.

Center Township is also receiving a $5,000 contribution. Donations range from $1,000 to $5,000.

Applications for the second period of grants ended in May and the selected youth organizations will be announced later this month.

"We'll have a third period of grants if our finances allow it," Paytas said.

Kowalski extended his gratitude to the Pirates.

"It's awesome that the major league team we all go to see is willing to come here and help us out," he said. "We believe baseball helps teach kids life lessons. That's why so many of us support our youth leagues."

"We want kids to be excited about playing baseball," Coonelly said. "This is our small way of lending a hand."