Kiwanis Miracle League

Our BBQ Rendezvous proceeds from 2014-2018 provided the money to make 2019 an exciting year. That was when this Miracle was built.

The Kiwanis Miracle League at Prospect Meadows Throws out the First Pitch

Prospect Meadows opened their gates May 23rd, 2019 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Our field hosted all the project leaders, supporters and community members that came out to see the newest addition to Linn County. Then on June 22nd we hosted our exhibition game to introduce Miracle League baseball to eastern Iowa.

Kids of all abilities are welcome. No one is turned down. We recruit volunteers to be “buddies” for our players. The buddies are are matched with a player and their responsibility is to assist our player and keep them safe.

Every player gets a hit and the last batter in the lineup hits a GRAND SLAM to bring their teammates home. Each kid gets to bat two or three time per game.

The games last an hour and at the end we all gather on the mound for a Kiwanis Miracle League tradition.

PLAY BALL!

Our players put on their official uniforms and the regular season started. The first season had 4 teams. The Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, and Twins started their 6 week season on August 17th, 2019. All our games end in ties by having evenly matched teams or a little creative score keeping. Our players don’t seem to mind because it is all about the fun.

Our buddies are an important part of game day. By the end of the season we were getting organized groups providing a lot of the volunteers. We really appreciate it! The Cedar Rapids Rough Riders showed up one day.

You can get in on the fun also. Sign up to be a buddy on the Prospect Meadows website. Or maybe this really speaks to you and you want to really help us more than a couple hours on a random Saturday. Tell us your thoughts here.

There are two seasons each summer. We play a spring season (May-June) and a fall season (August-September). The field is a rubberized smooth surface which is safe for kids with mobility issues but it gets pretty hot in the middle of the summer.

At the end of the season the KML puts on an awards banquet for our players. We invite the players to a dinner and hand out All Star Medals.

This much fun doesn’t happen without a lot of hard work.

Kiwanis answers the call to action

We invited the three other Kiwanis clubs in the metro area to join us to form the Kiwanis Miracle League at Prospect Meadows. Four members of the Hi-CREW, Cedar Rapids, Marion Sunrisers, and Marion Metro Kiwanis clubs formed the initial board. This new organization’s mission is to organize the teams and run the games for kids with disabilities that are 21 years old and under. Our players are kids that wouldn’t really fit in a typical little league setting.

The Kiwanis Miracle League (KML) board works hard to make sure our players and families have a great time at NO EXPENSE. The kids get official MLB jerseys with their names on them.