Miracles Happening in Palmer

The miracles keep happening for a project that will provide a baseball facility for children with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Inc. of Bethlehem is donating $10,000 to the to help construct a baseball field that is custom-designed for the special needs of children with physical and intellectual disabilities.

The field, located next to the Charles Chrin Community Center off Green Pond Road, is scheduled to open in spring 2012.

A capital campaign was launched last year calling for $750,000 to build and operate the field. The closest Miracle League Field is in Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, west of Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville.

“Puritan Products is proud to bring this unique facility one step closer to completion. We are humbled by the opportunity to help create a place where children and adults with disabilities can play and enjoy baseball in a safe environment,” said Lou DiRenzo, Puritan Products' president and general manager.

“Promoting safety in our community is part of our company’s vision and supporting the Miracle League field fits that vision," he said.

Miracle League fields have rubberized surfaces to help prevent injuries and eliminate any barriers to wheelchair-bound, equipment-assisted or visually impaired players.

According to the Miracle League’s website, there are 240 Miracle League organizations across the country, with others in Puerto Rico, Canada and Australia. 

The Miracle League serves more than 200,000 children and young adults with disabilities. “This donation is instrumental in helping our organization ‘Build a Miracle,’” Richard Agretto, president of the Miracle League of Northampton County, said in a letter to DiRenzo. “It is greatly appreciated.”

Puritan Products has provided funding for health and safety programs for other organizations, including the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley, The Burn Prevention Foundation, Lehigh County Haz-Mat, Bethlehem City Fire Department, Han-Le-Co Volunteer Fire Company and the Two Rivers Council of Governments.

Puritan Products, a privately held company established in 1987, is a manufacturer of high purity, custom-blended and specialty chemicals.

These products are used in research and quality-control laboratories, universities and for manufacturing in the pharmaceutical, micro-electronics and other industrial markets.

Puritan Products has been on Inc. Magazine’s Top 5,000 list of fastest growing companies for two years running.

For more information, visit www.puritanproducts.com.