Los Angeles-area little league turns down strip club donation

Los Angeles-area little league turns down strip club donation
A broke pee-wee baseball league returned a $1,200 donation from a local strip club.
By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 7:00 AM
Updated: Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 7:37 AM





What looked like a financial home run for a cash-strapped little league just dinged foul off the stripper pole.

A broke pee-wee baseball league in Southern California has decided to return a $1,200 donation from a local strip club that would have helped keep the league afloat.

Officials from the Lennox Little League initially appeared ready to accept the donation from the Los Angeles International Airport-area jiggle joint, the Jet Strip gentleman's club, when they recieved it two weeks ago, the Daily Breeze newspaper reported.

But local television station KTLA reported on Monday night that the league's chief decided to give the money back once he discovered where it came from.

"It was a shocker to us," Lennox Little League head Roberto Aguirre told KTLA.

"We do not want the money from the strip club," he said. "I think, for us, we do need the money, but we will go some other avenue."

Officials say the league's finances sunk into the red recently after the Lennox school district, which owns the local sandlots, decided to impose new fees and squashed the league's ability to sell burgers and hot dogs at games, citing health concerns, the Breeze reported.

Jet Strip wasn't the only local business to step up to the plate; a little league in neighboring Westchester and a local community group, Lennox Coordinating Council, donated a combined $1,600.

Locals said the club's owners have a history of donating to local charities, but have always kept their efforts quiet.

"We don't really like to brag about it," the club's general manager, James Wallace, told the Breeze.

Their attempts at charity have been turned away in the past.

The Special Olympics, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross have all turned down handouts from the club in the past, the Breeze reported.

Aguirre said he hoped plans for a new snack shack near the ball fields would help generate cash, and he was also planning on reaching out to other local businesses for donations.

One parent said it didn't matter where the money came from, as long as it kept the boys in the batter's box and off the streets.

"Whoever is willing to get behind the kids in a positive way, you know, we have to be willing to support those people as well," local mom Tanya Dempsey told KTLA.

Tony Marino wrote:Whats the difference where it came from, its not like they are going to send Strippers to the field to strip for the little boys.

Tony Marino wrote:Whats the difference where it came from, its not like they are going to send Strippers to the field to strip for the little boys.

Chris wrote:I agree. The kids needed it, and it isn't as though the strip club is illegal. Denying that charitable donation is that height of arrogance and superiority.

Nystyle709 wrote:Well, if the strip club wanted them to wear t-shirts or something to promote their club, I could understand them returning it.....but since they were just being nice, that was dumb on the little league's part.

Alan Smithee wrote:

Would the T-shirts have to be wet?