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A Reds legend steps up to plate to help athletes in one local district fulfill their dreams.
Local 12's Larry Davis brings you the story on how Joe Morgan is helping students in a district that fell on hard times financially.
Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan is contributing 10% of all service bill's at his Honda dealership to the Monroe school district's pay to play program.
Monroe is one of only a half dozen Ohio school districts in fiscal emergency. It's dealing with a lot of red ink, but a member of the big red machine is coming through in the clutch.
About a year and a half ago, Reds Hall of Famer Joe Morgan opened a Honda dealership off of I-75 in Monroe. But as business in the city grows, the school district is struggling financially.
The two time National League MVP's dealership is stepping up to help by donating 10% of all service bills to the pay to play program.
"I'm a real believer in sports and helping develop kids as well as the books, so I wanted to help that and I feel we're a part of the community here and I wanted to do something to give back to the community and this is our way of doing it."
Playing football or any other sport in Monroe this year will cost $250 per student, up from $100 last year.
"We have families who are really going to struggle to have their kids play sports next year we have some families with four kids playing fall sports which is a $1,000 just for one season so I think it's going to be a tremendous help to us."
Morgan feels for students in districts with pay to play. The Reds legend wonders if he would have made it to the majors if he had to pay in high school.
"Yes it touches me because my real thoughts are for every kid to be able to go as far as he can in pursuit of his dreams."
Monroe's best known corporate citizen says this is when the community should step up to the plate.
"I want other people to step up and do something you see other businesses in the Monroe area and you see other people who have some wherewithal to be able to make donations to the school system and hopefully this will start that."
So it will be interesting to see if other Monroe businesses come forward.
Monroe Athletic Director Dave Bauer says with the help of donations like those from Joe Morgan Honda, they will do everything possible to make sure students can suit up this year.
The Monroe Athletic Department says nearly 500 students participated in sports last year. That number is expected to decline to between 300 and 350 due to the high pay to play fees.