Todd Frazier To Donate $50K To Toms River Field Of Dreams: Report

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Major League Baseball star and Toms River native Todd Frazier is set to donate $50,000 to the Toms River Field of Dreams project, according to a report.

The Field of Dreams is a sports facility designed to accommodate children with special needs and their families that will be built on a portion of Toms River's Bey Lea Park on North Bay Avenue.

The project, led by Toms River resident Christian Kane, has been raising the $2 million cost to build the facility and is within $200,000 of its goal, and the Asbury Park Press reported Frazier's donation will help close the final fundraising gap.

Kane is a Toms River resident and teacher at Toms River North whose son, Gavin, was severely injured in a car accident in 2012. He was inspired to try to create a place that offers special needs children a unique experience after watching his older son playing Little League baseball and realizing Toms River did not have a baseball field for special needs children like Gavin.

Gavin suffered a head injury in a July 2012 crash on Bey Lea Road, a Patch report said. Kane was driving a van with Gavin in a child safety seat in the back seat when they were rear-ended by a delivery truck.

Kane's efforts to create the facility began in 2017. The plans include a state-of-the-art all-inclusive playground, a baseball field and courts for basketball, bocce and shuffleboard. Also planned is a mini golf course, a walking path with rehabilitative fitness stations along its length, a temperature-controlled pavilion, a quiet corner, and a complimentary snack shack, according to the project website.

Trees were cleared from the site in April in preparation for construction work. NJ Site & Utility Contractors of Jackson donated its time and equipment to do the work, Toms River Field of Dreams organizers said.

READ MORE: Work Begins At Toms River Field Of Dreams Site

Frazier, who grew up in Toms River and first gained fame as one of the key players on the 1999 Little League World Championship team from Toms River East Little League, was a baseball star at Toms River High School South and then at Rutgers University before joining the major leagues. He played with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox before joining the New York Yankees shortly before their 2017 playoff run. He joined the Mets as a free agent in 2018.

The Field of Dreams organization continues to seek donors and sponsors for the many aspects of the facility. Funding the construction is only part of the effort; a capital campaign is under way along with a GoFundme campaign, to support ongoing upkeep once the construction is completed.

You can read more and learn how you can help on the project website.

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