PLYMOUTH, Ohio- The Plymouth-Shiloh Athletic Boosters received a $1,200 donation Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 5, to help the school district fund its athletic complex.
The donation came from Dr. James Schumer, founder of ReVision Advanced Laser Eye Center, and his team from a charitable program they started a few years ago called ReVision Gives Back.
“And it’s been a blessing for us, as well as those who’ve received it,” ReVision Clinic Coordinator Rhonda Mutchler said.
Mutchler and surgical team member Cory Archer presented the check to Plymouth Athletic Director Andrew McFarland and Plymouth-Shiloh Athletic Booster Club President Jason Porter.
“We’re definitely glad that they picked us,” said McFarland, who is in his second year as athletic director of the Big Red.
Because of this donation, as well as countless others, McFarland and Porter are confident the field will be ready for Plymouth’s season opener Aug. 28 against Buckeye Central.
“I mean, we’ll push it up to the end,” McFarland said. “We were supposed to have a home scrimmage Aug. 21, and we decided to move that to an away location — just to give us that extra week.”
Major additions to the field, including the scoreboard, lights, bleachers, and concession stand, will be completed, if they haven’t already, in time for the game. There are, however, a few minor things McFarland said he and his team need to work out.
“Then we will add things as we go,” he said.
Dr. Schumer, a Mansfield resident and one of the first surgeons in the United States to perform laser eye surgery, was unable to attend the presentation.
ReVision Gives Back donates to programs in and around Richland County and Columbus, where both eye centers are located.
“Four of us being alumni from (Plymouth), we knew the need,” Mutchler said of the upgrade. “We also have a patient who has some strong ties to the Plymouth school district, and he talked to us about it.”
Once brought to Dr. Schumer’s attention, he gave the green light to contribute to the cause.
Among its many donors, the Plymouth-Shiloh Athletic Boosters also have received substantial backing from Angela Phillips, president and chief executive officer of Shelby Welded Tube.
“She gave us $25,000 up front (in May), and she will give us another $25,000 next spring,” McFarland said. “Also, she’s going to match up to $50,000.”
The cutoff for matching the donations likely will be later this year, though an exact date has been set.
“I know her doing that, because she told me, was to get other businesses involved too,” McFarland said.
In addition to the private donations, the Plymouth-Shiloh School Board also has taken a vested interest in helping this project come to fruition by purchasing a lighting and sound system—both of which already are installed.
“(The Plymouth-Shiloh Athletic Boosters) were the ones who originally took this project and started it,” McFarland said. “And once we got a really good start, I think the board bought into the idea and realized that this project really was going to happen.”
Things haven’t always been so fluid, however, according to Porter.
“I’d taken over the boosters roughly five years ago and tried to head up some fundraising,” Porter said. “We contacted and sent out letters to all of our alumni and businesses, and we pretty much hit a brick wall.”
Unable to gain financial support, Porter said the Boosters proceeded to take care of the teams by purchasing new uniforms and equipment. That’s when, unexpectedly, a helping hand presented itself.
“In the spring of 2013, Hub Reed came into the principal’s office and laid out a big plan about how he was going to fundraise,” Porter said of the 1964 Plymouth grad.
“He has numerous connections with businesses and alumni who want to donate, and he has generated us over $100,000 to date.”
Thanks to these efforts and others, McFarland said the field can now seat “close to double” what Mary Fate Park used to.
“The visitors’ bleachers now are what our home bleachers were at the park,” McFarland said.
The new home stands can hold 800 people, according to Porter, while the visitors’ stands can hold 250 to 300 people.
Donations continue to be accepted by the Plymouth-Shiloh Athletic Boosters, which will have another fundraiser on its Facebook page soon.
“Once we get the website set up, a link will be available on the Plymouth-Shiloh Athletic Boosters’ Facebook page,” Porter said. “And that should be up and running by September.
