It all started with a video that popped up on Dante Palazzos Instagram feed. A video showing a teenager just like many kids cross America playing baseball. Something was different about this video though, this baseball player didn’t have shoes; he was barefoot playing on the dirt field. This kid was from Uganda.
When Palazzo saw this, he started live chatting online, where he connected with a man named Ron Sanbower. That day, Ron was with his son Hunter practicing baseball at an indoor facility. They live in Maryland. One of the pitching machines that they were using stopped working, and they were trying to find a way to fix it. Dante shared the video with him and when Ron saw it he started to reflect on what was going on – there he found himself and his son complaining about one of the machines not working, and 7,160 miles away there were kids from Uganda making the best of what they have, even playing without anything on their feet. “It kinda put me in tears,” Ron explained, they were “practicing with nothing.” He talked to his son, and they decided to use some of the profits that they had from hosting a tournament to send over to these kids in Uganda.
Dante and Ron knew they had to try and do something about the situation that these kids were in. They wanted to start getting better equipment for them. Dante started talking to people and raising awareness. The first people to donate were students within Clinton Public Schools, Madeleine Grenon (Morgan) and Cameron Grenon (Eliot). Ron and his son were also doing their part. They have their own batting glove business named Curved Laces. They took 32 pairs of gloves from their stock and without a second thought donated them to the cause.
When they had enough equipment to send the first batch over to Uganda, in November 2024. They ran into a problem. It was 900 dollars to ship four boxes, “I feel like they make it so we can’t help people over there,” said Palazzo, referring to the shipping company they wanted to use. With those prices, they had to find another way to send over their packages. That is when they got in touch with the director of the Imani Ministry in Uganda, Jessalynn Otte – who lives in Michigan part of the year then travels to Uganda for the rest. They realized they didn’t have to ship directly to Africa, they could ship it to Michigan, and she would take it over to Uganda.
Eight years ago, Otte took a trip to Uganda randomly, she brought a baseball and a glove with her. She grew up playing softball. She went to a dirt field and found a young man named Kennady Indevu playing baseball, Otte “knew she was home.” She also knew at that moment she needed to invest in these kids beyond just baseball.
Otte developed a ministry which is named the Imani Ministry. In her ministry in Uganda, she has 60 kids, and all of them are baseball players.
Public school in Uganda isn’t free, it is $30 for elementary school kids, $150 for high school kids, and $200 for college students, all of these prices are on a monthly basis. These prices have made it so only 20 out of the 60 kids are able to go to school.
Currently, the Imani Ministry has recently moved to a bigger mission house, Otte said, “it’s been a huge blessing.” Funding has been difficult and because of this they have had to say no to “many things like shoes for all the kids and school fees for all the kids.” 75 percent of Ottes personal salary goes directly to the kids in the Imani Ministry.
Now that Palazzo has been helping out, Otte says, “it’s like we are on a flotation device.” She is excited to see where the future takes her ministry. In the future, she hopes to be able to provide the kids a chance to go to school and find consisted funding, so there isn’t any questions’ money wise. She doesn’t want to have to say no when she is asked if there is any room in the budget for things like shoes that many kids across America never have to worry about.
Another organization that Dante has been helping out is the Community Braves that helps kids from Uganda. In this program there are 50 kids, 30 boys and 20 girls, and just like the Imani Ministry they all play baseball. The program director for the community braves is Ashraf Murgerwa. The community braves have been playing games against other kids. Palazzo has been paying for all of their transportation. In the future, Murgerwa says he wants “some of his kids to be playing internationally in the U.S.A.” He also wants his kids to be “studying freely.” Most of the kids in his program are homeless or very poor, baseball becomes a place for them to realize what they can do. Murgerwa says, “it [the program] affects them very positively.” Every kid inside the Community Braves are religious, Murgerwa explains, “they live in the fear of God,” their religion is very important to them.
Palazzo has gained lots of support from the baseball community in his efforts to get these kids equipment. Matt Rondinone, who is part of the Capitals baseball organization, a team in Connecticut, has given him about three quarters of what Dante has. Another contributor was Mike Moras, who is a part of the Grind organization, which is another baseball team in Connecticut. Moras opened up the Grind’s facility for two weeks to let people drop off donations for the cause. Pete Civetello from the Clutch, another AAU baseball team in Connecticut, gave Palazzo “a whole garage full of stuff.” Also, Brian Rhône from the Baystate Braves donated lots of equipment.
He has always wanted to help people. He has worked in the past with adults and children with special needs, and has also picked up drumming – originally wanting to play the drums to play Rock and Roll music and never church or worship music. Palazzo feels like now, “The Lord has flipped it on [him] every weekend [he is] playing worship music.” at his church. Palazzo feels like God has called him to help out these kids who are not as fortunate as many people are. He explains, “baseball isn’t the whole sole purpose” of his mission. Some of the kids are extremely malnourished. He can’t send anything over a large because it just won’t fit any of the kids because they are so skinny. That is why he wanted to try and help out and give these kids opportunities in life. For Palazzo, this has been a dream come true. To him, “he’s not making their dreams come true, they’re making his come true.”
