Grab any older unused baseball gear and donate it Saturday between 12 noon and 6 p.m. at Marine Avenue Park at the Marine East ball field. Parents from the Manhattan Beach Little League are accepting bagged donations of gently used baseball clothing and equipment for use by disadvantaged youth locally and in Cuba.

Most any kind of baseball gear can be donated: bats, gloves, balls, catcher's gear, helmets, batting gloves, cleats, hats, team jerseys, belts, pants, socks, and cups.

Last Saturday, the first collection day of two, MBLL parents received about 250 individual items that included 38 bats, 24 balls, 5 gloves, 2 sets of catcher's gear, 5 helmets, 6 batting gloves, 11 pairs of cleats, 8 hats, 22 team jerseys, 10 random jerseys/undershirts, 6 belts, 30 extra pants (several new), 27 pairs of socks, and 4 cups.

"The response was very positive," said Alan Berkes, one of the parents, of last Saturday's donations. "We're hoping for more gloves, hats and uniforms." 

Chris Lewis, whose sons have played in MBLL and attend Mira Costa High School and Pacific Elementary School, has traveled to Cuba to distribute the gear.