GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A ballgame between veterans and first responders is hoping to raise money to support others as well as remember the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
"Strikes for Stripes" is a softball game that supports Hero Services, a nonprofit that was started in 2021 by founder and CEO Jordan White.
Hero Services provides both monetary assistance for veterans and first responders when they are in need, and mental health support. White said the organization is currently working on forming social groups for people to participate in.
For the past four years, Strikes for Stripes has funded the nonprofit in their mission. Now, the game is their largest event of the year.
White said this growth is important not only to help fund Hero Services' programs, but to let first responders and veterans know that the nonprofit is there to help them.
"I would say that it's pretty profound for myself," he said. "The fact that it's continuing to grow, and the organization is continuing to grow, and we're having that community support us is extremely beneficial."
He said there are some veterans and first responders who are too young to remember the Sept. 11 attacks. He said it's important that those who lived through it continue to pass down what the first responders went through on that day so it isn't forgotten.
"I think that everyone should end up taking a moment throughout this next week to end up reflecting on that day, remembering, never forgetting, of the events that occurred on September 11," White said.
While the game aims to raise money for Hero Services, it also serves as as an opportunity to reflect on the Sept. 11 attacks and remember those who died.
"So this event means a lot to our local first responders, because it gives them the opportunity to be on the field together and remember their brothers and sisters in service who died, whether at Ground Zero on 9/11 or in the wars that followed," said Mandy Fidler, director of Hero Services.
The game is Saturday, Sept. 7 at Cornerstone University's De Witt Field. There will be a touch-a-truck show, where kids can see firetrucks, military vehicles and more up close, as well as merchandise booths, face painting and food trucks. Gates open at 6 p.m.
The morning of the game, there will be a motorcade escorting a piece of the World Trade Center to Cornerstone University around 11:30 a.m. The piece was donated by a local fire department.
The pregame ceremony kicks off at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased both at the gate or ahead of time on Hero Services' website here.