Pictured, from left (standing), Rob Parker, president and CEO, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce; Joe Conley, Gaby Perez, Jake Thomas, Nick Meadows, Norm Hubler, Justin Shoemaker, Mark Himes, Carl Sowers.
 Pictured, from left (crouched), Mojmir Mocek, Natalka Mocek, Valinka Mocek.

LEESBURG — Friday, May 26, the Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the ball diamonds located at 112 East School Street, Leesburg to celebrate the completed construction of new concession and restroom areas for the Leesburg Summer Recreational League.

AkzoNobel, a global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals, sponsored the construction as a community service project.

In 2016 Carl Sowers, a plant employee at the AkzoNobel facility in Warsaw, approached Mojmir Mocek, the Warsaw site manager, about the possibility of a community service project. Sowers presented the idea of the Leesburg ballpark. At that time, the ballpark only had two porta potty rentals on site for everyone who visited the fields during games and tournaments.

According to information received from Dan Green, AkzoNobel external communications manager for North America, and Mocek, they decided to support the Leesburg Summer Recreational League due to the fact that their employees, led by Sowers, noticed the need in the community and wanted the Leesburg ball diamonds to be a place where kids would have the opportunity to have fun. They felt the restrooms and concession stand were a much-needed addition.

The project was completed in two phases, with a total financial donation of $23,000 from AkzoNobel. Donated materials were also received from local partners. AkzoNobel employees donated almost 220 hours of their time to help construct and paint the new facilities.