ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – First responders are meeting in the boxing ring for “Fight Night” on Thursday night at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. It has become a tradition in St. Johns County.
But the charity boxing matches are for a bigger cause.
All the money raised is going to a baseball field and playground being built to accommodate those with physical and intellectual challenges.
It will be called “Diamond of Dreams” as the baseball field and playground will be right next to each other.
The team behind the project needs a little more than $1 million to cover the rest of the cost for the project.
The boxing matches planned for inside the amphitheater Thursday are going to help meet that goal.
Thirty fighters are battling it out in 15 bouts, including deputies, firefighters and police officers.
Kendell Hardwick is the coordinator of the Diamond of Dreams building project. She is also the wife of St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick, who is emceeing the event.
Kendell says the complex is an all-inclusive playground and baseball field to meet a need.
“Anything is helpful and the fact that they are willing to put this project as the sole recipient makes my heart swell,” she said about the Fight Night charity event.
News4JAX first told you about the plan in December.
The playground design allows the majority of it to be wheelchair accessible with sensory areas for children and adults who may need a quieter space to play.
The baseball field is going to be specially carpeted so wheelchairs can go anywhere on the field.
Helping people like Michael Strausbaugh’s daughter who has cerebral palsy and some intellectual differences.
“I am sure that when this park opens up, if you come back out here and you see the smiles on the people’s faces, it puts people in contact with people they may have not otherwise come in contact with,” Strausbaugh said when we spoke with him in December.
Kendell Hardwick is the director of nursing for the St. Johns County School District.
“I have worked alongside the family members and have been privileged to take care of children with special needs throughout my career at the St. Johns County School District for the past 15 years,” she said.
According to Hardwick, the total cost for the Diamond of Dreams is $3.5 million. Currently, she says, the project has just shy of $2.5 million.
The county awarded the project $2.2 million through the American Rescue Plan of 2021.
Hardwick says those on the team have raised around $300,000 in fundraising, which leaves the remaining balance around $1 million.
“This is just another project that is going to serve them in a really special way,” Hardwick said. “I know the need and I just want to give back.”
The Diamond of Dreams is being built off Allen Nease Road in the southwest portion of the county.
The only other park in St. Johns County that meets the same needs is the Field of Dreams at Aberdeen Park.
Fight Night at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre starts at 6 p.m. Thursday; doors open at 5 p.m.