A Peachtree City man who wishes to remain anonymous has donated the remaining

$74,000 needed for the Field of Hope, a youth baseball field designed for

children with disabilities.

The donor wishes to remain anonymous, said Nick Harris of the Field of

Hope's board of directors.

The benefactor walked into The Bank of Georgia's branch off Commerce

Drive last week and told bank official Jim Daughtry he wanted to make sure

the project was completed, said Nick Harris of the Field of Hope's

board of directors. The Bank of Georgia has been accepting donations for

the field for quite some time.

The donation was a total surprise and "came out of the blue",

Harris noted.

"When Jim called me and told me about that conversation, I told him

it wasn't funny to be joking about that," Harris said. The fund-raising

effort - which will have netted $720,000 of cash and in-kind donations - was

starting to slow down and Harris was becoming worried they weren't

going to meet the financial goal.

There were worries, Harris said, that the fund-raising campaign would

be stretched out another year. The campaign began almost four years ago.

"We were about at our wits' end," Harris said. "We

had no feelers and we were all starting to wonder, where are we going to

get this money?"

A recent mailing seeking funds from 100 persons and businesses was sent

out recently, and ironically the benefactor received his mailing just before

he visited Daughtry at the bank, Harris said. The donor said he had already

made his mind up about his good deed before opening the mailing, Harris

said.

"He said it was like a sign from God that this was the right thing

to be doing," Harris said.

Harris said he told the anonymous donor that he was a guardian angel,

but the donor said he wasn't.

"He said, 'When you have the money, you're able to do things

like this,'" Harris recalled.

The donor also remarked that he had been tracking the Field of Hope's

progress, Harris noted.

The donation was the largest cash contribution received during the fund-raising

campaign, Harris noted.

"It was just like a miracle from God," Harris said of the donation. "...

It's put everybody at ease. We no longer have to worry about raising

money."

Similar fields have been built in other areas, but there was no use of

debt financing or a tax on local citizens for Field of Hope, Harris said.

"It took us longer, but it was worth the effort," Harris said.

The field's unique rubberized playing surface will be installed late

this month. At $131,000, the playing surface was the most expensive part

of the project.

The rubberized surface is one of the key features since a normal dirt

playing field can hinder some of the players who might be using a walker

or a wheelchair to maneuver around. On defense, each player gets help from

a "buddy" partner who can help to make plays.

Opening day for the field will likely be set for early October, which

puts it after the Peachtree City Challenger League has already started

its season, but it will be worth the wait, Harris said.

Part of the delay is so the adjacent field, built with normal dirt and

grass, will be ready, Harris said. The idea for that field all along was

creating a place for able-bodied children to play side-by-side with kids

in the Challenger League, Harris said.

The Field of Hope is located at Peachtree City's south Highway 74

baseball and soccer complex. The land for the field was donated by the

Peachtree City City Council.

Numerous companies and individuals have helped by donating services and

supplies in-kind, Harris noted.

"It has truly, truly been a community effort," Harris said. "These

kids are going to be playing ball ... and it's going to do a lot for

our recreational program."

The Challenger League currently has 55 kids involved and there are plans

to expand it this spring with hopes of almost doubling that amount.

"I think we can do it," Harris said.