ALLOUEZ (WLUK) -- At least an hour before game time, Gary Rogaczewski is prepping the field at Optimist Park in Allouez.
"Many of the kids, they put their jersey on at eight in the morning when they know they have a game that night," he said with a smile. "These kids live and breathe to come out and play."
Rogaczewski is the executive director for Miracle League Green Bay.
Like many businesses, he's looking for workers.
He needs about 275 volunteers to help run the roughly two-month-long baseball season.
"We are usually pretty successful, but the last couple of years we've had some of the challenges..." he says. "Just due to other competing interests for the kids and the adults."
The coronavirus pandemic only made the search for volunteers harder.
The league starts recruiting in January, which can be months before high schoolers looking to volunteer know their summer plans.
It’s why the classroom isn’t the only place to look for help.
"This is my second summer," said Ann Steinfeldt. She spent nearly a decade as a special needs teacher before retiring last year after 30 years of teaching.
"We will help them bat or move them around the bases in their in a wheelchair," she lists. "Sometimes, it's just getting their attention so they run to the first base."
Each volunteer is a buddy, paired with a player between 4 and 19.
The hope is to keep the buddies year after year to build relationships with the players.
So, as for Rogaczewski's recruiting efforts, he says this to anyone considering volunteering their time:
Whether you're in high school, an adult or a senior citizen, it's an opportunity to give a little bit back to the community and to help a child who otherwise might not be able to go out and play baseball.