This job has many rewarding factors.
As reporters, we sometimes lose sight of these through deadlines, multiple stories on our plates, long, unorthodox hours and other daily stresses.
Many of our story ideas come from the readers themselves — often alerting us of an upcoming event or asking us to spotlight a resident or outstanding athlete.
Every now and then, we have the chance to actually see our efforts make a real difference.
We received an email from Donna Skeens, a local mom involved with sponsorship and fundraising for the Antioch Little League. Her husband, Jimmy, is in charge of grounds-keeping and safety management for the organization.
Skeens explained the county had stopped supplying red clay and sand to get the fields, located at 8510 Franklin Road, in Plant City, in proper playing condition for the upcoming baseball and softball season. The county also does not maintain the fields, forcing the Skeens and the rest of the Antioch Little League family to search for help.
They worked tirelessly to get the fields ready, along with the help of James and Stephine Sheffield and other volunteers.
They were in need of a tractor/box blade and bucket last weekend to help get the fields ready, and the Skeens reached out to us for help.
First, it is a privilege to be able to help with things like this — and even more of an honor that community members think of the Plant City Observer to come to for help. After all, we’re your community newspaper.
With limited funds, the Antioch program was hoping for any volunteer help they could get.
“I am telling you this as I hope with some of your contacts you would be able to lead me in the right direction for help,” Skeens wrote in the email.
After asking around within our office for any leads, I posted the request on our Facebook page.
A day later, I received another email.
Skeens wrote: “I would like you to know how much this means to me as we try to teach our boys that one person could make a difference. We would just like to see Antioch return back to the park it was meant to be.”
Antioch also was looking for more players, ages 4-16, to fill out their baseball and softball teams for the league, along with parent coaches and volunteers.
So, I posted another update on Facebook about those needs. On Monday, I received another email from Skeens.
This was the best one yet.
“First I would like to thank you for listing what you did in the Observer,” she said. “We had people coming for sign-ups.”
Then, even more good news: “I would like to let you know our prayers have been answered. We now have two men that came out Sunday with tractors to help us. The fields are coming together faster and a special shout-out to Antioch Feed Store for its support.”
Receiving emails like these never gets old. It is a regular reminder of why I love this job.