Little League Benefit to Support Stabbing Victim's Children

When members of the Greenfield Little League heard about , and word got out about the family involved, it didn’t take long for league board members to step up to the plate.

Within hours, they were discussing what the league could do to help and with the season rapidly nearing its end, the league moved quickly and swiftly in the hopes of turning its season-ending spectacle into a huge fundraiser for one of its own.

On Wednesday, July 25, starting at 5:45 p.m., the organization will be raising money for the three Gish/Litwicki siblings whose mother killed July 14. Kaleb Gish is a first-year Little League member and played this season on the Rookie Diamondbacks.

His father Christopher Tuesday.

“They were involved as a family,” Little League vice-president Jeff Brunner said. “Even Chris was involved. They marched in the parade. It’s a shocking thing. I didn’t know Chris other than a few ‘hellos’ walking to and from the field, but you never would have guessed this could have happened.”

The league’s three regularly scheduled all-star games will begin at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, followed by the annual home run derby, all at . There will be a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses, and all proceeds will go to the Gish/Litwicki siblings. Proceeds from a 50/50 raffle and the home run derby will also go to the family.

“The home run derby is $5 per kid (to enter) and it’s open to all players,” Brunner said. “Typically, we have 100 kids that sign up, so we hope to make $500 right there.”

Brunner said the league will also make its own cash donation to the family.

Among the raffle prizes are jewelry from , pie for a year from a $300 gift certificate from Greg’s Refinishing and more. Little League is donating a family registration package, valued at $150, and the organization will continue to accept and solicit donations in the days leading up the event.

Updated: Additional donations include sporting goods from Dunn's Sporting Goods and travel gift certificates from Latitudes Travel. Greenfield Patch will continue to update the sponsor donations as they come in.

The response has been great, Brunner said.

“We’ve gotten nothing but positive responses and the (league) board is behind everything we’re doing,” he said.

Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke, whose son plays in the league, referenced the fundraiser during Tuesday’s Common Council meeting and urged people to lend a hand.

“This is really sad for me,” Neitzke said. “I go to Little League games two times a week, sometimes four times a week it seems. When you see these little kids, and this little boy was in rookie ball, it’s really, truly heartbreaking. Anything (people) can do would be very, very nice.”

If you are interested in donating an item to the raffle or would like to make a cash donation to the Gish/Litwicki family, contact Brunner at 414-526-0198 or jeffreybrunner@att.net.

In addition, according to the Facebook page For the Love of Maggie, donations can be made to the Margaret Litwicki Memorial Fund at any . Donations will be used to cover funeral costs and future care of the children.