"There is a definite need," said Janet Gigeous, Adenhart's mother. "At all the various places Nick played, he has gone out with the players in the community and had seen it. Now, with the economy the way it is and natural disasters, like the floods that were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when he was out there, the leagues need help."
The fund is being managed by Geier Financial Group in Marriottsville, Md., of which Adenhart was a client. Gigeous said there won't be promises of huge donations to leagues, but rather of money to help them survive.
"(Adenhart's stepfather) Duane (Gigeous) and I both served as the president of Halfway Little League when Nick was coming through," she said. "We saw how much money it takes to run the league. After paying for insurance, bats, balls and uniforms, there isn't much left for anything else."
Janet Gigeous said the fund hopes to soon have a Web site where leagues can go to see its objectives and how to request assistance. The organization has a commitment from Major League Baseball's Web site -- www.mlb.com -- to post information about how to contribute to and make requests of the fund on the home page of every major league and minor league team.
"We plan to spread out the funds to help make ends meet," she said. "It will be fairly targeted. It will be tough to impact any of the leagues for this year, but we'll be looking at organizations. Our goal is to get the information out in the next 60 days. We have been asked by a lot of people and a lot of clubs about it."
Most of the donations to date have been made locally, Janet Gigeous said.
"Most of the checks that we have received have been for $34," she said. "That was his (uniform) number, so that's nice."
Donations to the Nick Adenhart Memorial Fund may be made in care of Geier Financial Group, 2205 Warwick Way, Suite 200, Marriottsville, MD 21104.
