OUR STORY
It started with a documentary. Watching Ken Burns' Baseball, Samuel Kunzman was struck by something simple: the story of baseball is the story of America. It's older than the Civil War — one of the only things North and South ever agreed was good. It's fathers and sons, tradition, community, and everything the country gets right and wrong, all wrapped into one game played on one field.
Somewhere along the way, that game started leaving kids behind. Travel teams, private academies, and rising fees turned a backyard game into a country-club sport — out of reach for the families who need it most. Samuel didn't think his father would have stood for that.
The foundation is named for James S. Kunzman — husband, father, and the man whose belief in fairness and community shaped how his family sees the world. Samuel founded the James S. Kunzman Foundation to carry that belief onto the field: America's pastime should be for everybody.Today the foundation is run as a family effort. Samuel J. Kunzman serves as President, Director & Founder; his uncle Wallace W. Kunzman, Jr. as Chairman, Director & Co-Founder; Mark A. Kunzman as Vice Chairman, Director & Co-Founder; and Deborah T. Kunzman — James's wife — as Corporate Secretary, Director & Co-Founder. (Full bios on the Board page.)
JSKF's first commitments went to Belén Little League in New Mexico — including a $5,000 donation covered by the News-Bulletin — with early work also reaching Las Cruces and Albuquerque. Opening day in Belén brought the community out in a way local news outlets covered directly, and momentum is now building into Colorado, with more leagues and events on the way.
What started in New Mexico is growing into Colorado and Texas — more leagues, more equipment funded, more families kept in the game. The goal isn't a single donation or a single season. It's a lasting, on-the-ground institution kids and communities can count on.
This is a family foundation, built on one man's belief that the game should belong to everyone.
...We're just getting started.
