Team raises amazing $4,200 for ALS Association at Merrick Bellmore Little League championship

An 8-and-under baseball team with Merrick Mayhem, a travel baseball and softball organization, rallied behind a team member’s family last Saturday to raise money for and awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is an incurable chronic condition that weakens muscles and impacts physical functions.

The team’s head coach, Russ Berman, of Merrick, whose son Charlie is one of the players, said the squad has been together for a little over a year, and the boys have been learning and growing together over the last few seasons. The team recently won the 2023 East Coast Baseball Spring League championship in the 8U bracket.

Berman and the team’s other coaches had recently been thinking about hosting some fundraisers, he said, to raise money for entry fees for tournaments and rental fees for practice fields.

A better idea sprouted from their conversations, when an assistant coach, Russ Miller, suggested that they host a fundraiser for the ALS Association, because his mother, Susan Miller, has the disease.

“Russ brought up the ALS foundation, because he did some stuff for that outside of the travel baseball team, and thought it would be a great cause for the team to rally behind because it’s near and dear to his heart,” Berman said. “We thought it was a great idea to have the team participate, and do what they can to help raise money for a great cause.”

Aside from competing in travel leagues, Merrick Mayhem’s baseball and softball teams also play in local Little Leagues, like the Merrick Bellmore Little League. Last Saturday, the league held its World Series for the spring season at Chatterton School in Merrick — the perfect spot for the fundraiser to take place.

Berman’s team sold lemonade, snacks and other treats for four hours on Saturday afternoon, with the hope of collecting at least $1,400 — $100 per player on the 14-member team. If people didn’t want treats, and just wanted to give a donation, there was also a Venmo link available. The team ended up raising over $4,200, three times more than the initial goal.

Russ Miller, who’s also from Merrick and whose son Dylan is on the team, said his mother was diagnosed with ALS two years ago. She became part of the ALS Association, and was added to its website with a team name, Susan’s Journey. All donations the family has received thus far have been passed on to the association by way of her website link.

Despite the devastating diagnosis, Russ Miller said he wanted to keep his mother’s story as uplifting as possible, and to raise awareness of what funding actually pays for. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral social media challenge in 2014 that raised $115 million worldwide, helped fund a new drug to fight the disorder, he said.

“A lot of times, you do these donations if you do fundraisers, and people don’t know where the money goes, or what they’re going to fund,” Miller said. “If my mom was never diagnosed with ALS, I wouldn’t have known that those proceeds went to form this new drug.”

The support the team has given his family, he said, has been extraordinary, and the players have come to know his mom, who has been attending games ever since her diagnosis. “It was different — she was able to walk, to talk,” Miller said. “Now, unfortunately, my mom’s ALS is where she no longer has use of her arms, her legs — she can’t speak anymore without a machine. It’s very, very difficult. So I think it’s awesome that the team is involved, showing support for Dylan.”

Berman said that the coaches try to instill in their players values that extend beyond baseball. “To us, it’s more about teaching the kids there’s more to life than just playing baseball,” he said. “It’s sacrificing your time, teaching them about community, and being part of something bigger than just your baseball team.”

“Yes, we want the kids to win — yes, we want them to have a good time,” Miller said “But from a social aspect, it’s a fantastic thing that we can grow together.”

Julie Berman, who helped organize the fundraiser, said the generosity of the community was touching, and the boys worked hard at the sale. “At one point, they took the laminated menu cards we had and were accepting mobile orders and delivering to fans in the stands at the championship games being played on the fields,” she said. “The boys all worked so well together, and showed the true meaning of teamwork.”

For more on the team’s efforts or to make a donation to the Miller family’s cause, visit TinyURL.com/SusansJourney.