The Big O’ Foundation
The Big O Foundation was created by Joe and Jennifer Skelley, to honor the passing of their son, Owen Eugene Skelley. The tragic death by suicide is memorialized by the foundation’s commitment to celebrate life, improve the North Liberty community, bring support to those struggling with mental health issues, and educate others about mental health. It is undeniable that The Big O Foundation has become an integral part of the North Liberty community.
When the Organization wanted to rename a local baseball field after Owen, they came to Alpha Graphics for all their design and printing needs, including sponsor yard signs, rack cards, thank you cards, and more. The field now features metal signs in the outfield, on the dugouts, on the bathrooms, on the concession stand, and at the field entrances containing mental health resources, inspirational quotes from Owen Skelley, Big O Foundation information, a picture of Owen Skelley playing baseball.
“Uby Martinez and Matt Eckhardt (members of the Big O Foundation) had the vision to rename the Babe Ruth Field to the Owen Skelley Field. They approached Joe and Jennifer Skelley with the idea and the Big O Foundation and last fall we developed a proposal for the City of North Liberty and it was approved last spring. The purpose of the remainder is to bring awareness to mental health and have a venue to host events that will create educational opportunities, daily affirmations, and reminders that there are resources and help available.” Amy Bartachek, director of the board for the Big O Foundation, explains clearly. They wanted to reduce the stigma around mental health by providing North Liberty with a safe space where individuals could go and talk about mental health. Jennifer goes into more detail about the proposal, “We decided to approach the North Liberty City Council with our idea to rename the Babe Ruth field and part of our proposal was that we would take care of designing and displaying signs related to mental health and mental health resources in the outfield and around the field.”
We gave our design ideas to Deb and she was awesome to work with. She sent us rough draft ideas and was gracious to accept our color/design ideas/font changes.” Jennifer claimed. Amy agreed, “(Deb) did an excellent job with the designs -- we didn’t give a ton of direction other than the text, and we were so pleased with how it all turned out.” The signs were unveiled on August 19th, 2023. The Mayor of North Liberty and members of The Big O Foundation, including Joe Skelley, gave touching speeches. Walking around the field, see all of the signs really tied all of the field together.
I asked Jennifer and Amy what plans they had planned for the field. Amy responded, “Some future ideas include multiple baseball tournaments, adult kick-ball games to serve as a fundraiser for the Foundation or the I’m Glad You Stayed Project, and continue to have Liberty High School student teams play on the field. The field can be reserved by anyone in the city so we hope events outside of the Foundation will be held There.” “The Big O Foundation plans to hold at least 2 baseball tournaments annually at the Owen Skelley Field. We want everyone to know that the Owen Skelley (Field) is a safe place to go… Whether people are at the field for a baseball game, walking the trails, or playing pickleball the field is a source of encouragement and hope.” Jennifer confirmed.
“Talking about mental health should be normal, just like talking about a broken arm.”
— Jennifer Skelley