Farm team

Chris and Shelby Harper are at home hitting homers. They've taken several of their 44 acres of fields and woods in Matoaca, Virginia, cleared a big tract of brush and trees, and built a full-sized baseball field for the enjoyment of their sons and friends. More importantly, the field is used as a mentoring program for boys. Chris's friends have hauled countless pickup truck loads of rock and dirt and cleared land for weekends over the last several years.

They had to move 10 feet of dirt from right field all the way over to left field just to get it level. The backbreaking work is going to pay off big dividends.

They're taking their belief that they can make a difference in people's lives and putting it into reality beyond third base. They are trying their level best to fill the father-son void in parts of today's society by working with their church group to get kids together with adults to participate in outdoor activities including baseball, marksmanship, cooking, golf, fishing, and more.

Chris grew up playing baseball through high school, and coaches his own kids' little league teams.

"There's so much joy that we get from loading this place up with grandfathers and grandsons, fathers and their kids, it's a blast," Chris says. "We hope that we can show these kids a different way, show that they can all be loved."