MANCHESTER, NH – On April 26, Little League International issued a statement regarding $17,500 they now say was “improperly donated” to Dana Farber by former District 1 Administrator Don Kirkland in October, shortly after Sally Dreckmann was approved as the new District Administrator.
The statement was released by Brian McClintock, Director of Little League International in Williamsport, Pa.:
“As a courtesy to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO, informed the Institute of the issue regarding local, district funds improperly donated by former New Hampshire District 1 Administrator, Don Kirkland. As soon as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was made aware of this matter, they immediately offered to return the monies. And, late in the day on April 26, Little League International was advised that the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute would be returning those funds to the new New Hampshire District 1 Administrator, Sally Dreckmann. Little League International is grateful to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for their attention to this unfortunate matter.”
Dreckmann got the news earlier Tuesday from Patrick Wilson, Vice President of Operations for Little League International.
It was not necessarily the resolution she was looking for, says Dreckmann.
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“That wasn’t what our intentions were. Now I feel worse, in that Dana Farber is a wonderful organization. All I wanted was for Don Kirkland to be accountable for his actions,” Dreckmann said.
The news about the money being returned to the District bank account came one day after Dreckmann was contacted by the NH Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Unit, which has started investigating the matter.
Things between Dreckmann and Kirkland became contentious following the election in June of 2015 in which Dreckmann was voted in as new District Administrator. Kirkland challenged the vote, raising issues about Dreckmann’s handling of duties as Central Little League president.
“That is true. I had some sponsors who had not paid on time,” said Dreckmann, who also acknowledged that her League’s charter fee was also paid late. “But I straightened all of that out.”
Central Little League is located in one of the more economically depressed sections of the city. Annually, about 80 percent of the kids who play for Central can’t afford the $60 registration fee. Consistent with Little League guidelines, no child is turned away for lack of money, says Dreckmann.
Getting the kids equipped and on the field is her first priority.
Dreckmann says as instructed, she got her books in order by Oct. 15, 2015. Once that was taken care of, Dreckmann was officially named the new District Administrator.
Based on copies of emails sent to Kirkland reviewed by ManchesterInkLink, there were several people who reached out to him with the news. Kirkland maintains that he was never contacted by anyone – not from the District, not from the Eastern Regional offices.
Whether he knew about the outcome of his challenge, or not, Kirkland began emptying the bank account four days after Dreckmann was officially named the new Administrator.
Since all of this has been stirred up, it has come to light that Kirkland, who served as District Administrator for 18 years, has some bookkeeping issues of his own – there are no annual financial statements filed with Little League International from the District after 2010.
Also, Kirkland – who according to the District Administrator Handbook & Operating Manual should have been working with a treasurer – had been solely handling the District’s financials for the past several years. That is why he was able able to single-handedly empty the District 1 bank account of $17,965.13, without any checks or balances.
Two checks, for $8,500 and $9,000, were made out to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. A third donation was sent in December of 2015 to Little League International, for $465.13. It has since been returned to District 1.
On April 17, officials representing Little League Eastern Region informed Dreckmann, her board, and the District 1 League Presidents that Little League was not going to pursue restitution from Kirkland.
Dreckmann was asked to create a budget which included assessments for each of the 17 District Leagues to make up for the lost money, and help replenish the account.
On April 25 NH State Rep. Dick Marston, R-Manchester, a longtime volunteer for Little League, went to the NH Attorney General’s office to report what he had learned about Kirkland’s actions. Dreckmann says Thomas Donovan, Director of Charitable Trusts for the NH Attorney General’s Office, contacted her for more information.
On Tuesday night Donovan said it was “good news” for the money to be returned to NH Little League District 1.
“We’re just beginning our investigation,” Donovan said. “We still have several matters to look at,” Donovan said
In the meantime, Little League International reached out to Dana Farber on April 26, to advise them of the circumstances by which the $17,500 donation was made.
“Earlier today we were informed about this issue by Little League International. Based on the circumstances of the donation, we decided to return the funds to District 1,” said Ellen Berlin, Marketing Director for Dana Farber.
Late Tuesday Dreckmann was still feeling unsettled.
She says even though a majority of her District 1 League Presidents voted not to pursue restitution, she decided to speak up about the missing money because it was the right thing to do – the money does not belong to her, or to Kirkland.
It is there for the benefit of the players.
“That money is for the leagues. In fact, if we’d had it back in December, we could have purchased start-up baseballs for all the leagues, like we wanted to. But we weren’t given that opportunity by Don Kirkland,” says Dreckmann.
According to Steve Heffelfinger, who serves on the District 1 board, it appears as though lack of oversight on multiple levels is really at the heart of the matter.
“Technically, Kirkland shouldn’t have been eligible to run for re-election as District Administrator – as he didn’t meet the criteria in the DA handbook because he failed to submit the financials required by Little League. He should not have been able to contest the election results in the first place,” Heffelfinger said.
He also said there have been other issues across the District, where it was learned that some of the Leagues – including Central – had their 501c3 status revoked, for not having filed the required IRS Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-N.
Proper oversight from the District Administrator should have caught that error.
“Basically, all of that falls on Don Kirkland’s doorstep, as District Administrator. Between the DA and the Treasurer, it’s their job to prepare the District annual financial report and then submit it to Williamsport – only Don didn’t have a treasurer, as he was supposed to,” Heffelfinger says. “And unfortunately, nobody from Little League seems to have pressed him for those reports.”
