Alec Baldwin Donates $25K To Help Save Sports in West Genesse (N.Y.)

The Post-Standard, Sarah Moses

Camillus, NY — Actor Alec Baldwin made a special stop Wednesday afternoon to present the Northrop family a $25,000 check to help save the West Genesee School District’s modified sports teams.

“Sports are so important to these kids and when you hear it is going to be cut, you have to do something,” Baldwin said. “When you have boys and girls who want to play sports and we can’t provide it for them, I think it’s going to be bad for the community.”

A group of parents, including Dana and Kris Northrop, banned together after the district cut funding to the modified sports program. Their goal was to raise $75,000, which would allow 12 coaches to return and give about 300 more seventh- and eighth-graders the opportunity to play on modified sports teams.

The Northrop’s have two sons, John, 11, and Will, 14, in the district. Will Northrop played four modified sports at Camillus Middle School.

“Sports teach you to have more respect for each other, because your coaches expect more from you,” Will Northrop said. “Overall, the lessons that your coaches teach you, will impact you for the rest of your life.”

His parents mentioned the fundraising to Jane Baldwin Sasso earlier this summer and Sasso told her sister Beth Baldwin. Beth Baldwin said when she told her brother, he was eager to help.

Alec Baldwin, the star of NBC’s “30 Rock,” told the group of parents that if they raised $50,000, the Alec Baldwin Foundation would donate the remaining $25,000 to reach their fundraising goal.

Baldwin said the foundation, which was started about five years ago, typically supports organizations in the arts, such as the New York Philharmonic and Roundabout Theatre Co., but he said he believes sports are very important.

The parents established the West Genesee Modified Sports Boosters Inc., to raise money this year and in the future. The group exceeded their fundraising goal and is working on raising money for next year. The group plans to hold bake sales, dinners, bottle drives and other fundraisers throughout the year.

Baldwin said he would like to help in a fundraiser in the spring. He suggested a softball game, but said he’ll leave the details up to the group.

“I’m really interested in doing more in this community,” said Baldwin, whose mother and sisters live in Camillus. “I want to help.”