With a crack of the bat, a home run from Red Sox slugger David Ortiz led a Sippican School student to develop a fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund.

Sixth grade student, and Red Sox superfan, Sam Dunn saw Ortiz’s home run on television recently. Immediately after, the Jimmy Fund sign on Fenway’s Green Monster was shown and sparked Sam’s idea.

For Sam, this year was the first time he became aware of the fund, which raises money to fight cancer. He hit upon an idea where classmates could don Red Sox gear for a 25-cent donation. But first, he had to pitch the idea to Sippican School Principal Lyn Rivet.

“The thought of meeting Miss Rivet made me shake. But I told her and she said yes,” Sam said. “I did have a little bit of an idea she was going to say no, but my grandmother thought it was a good idea, so I also thought she was going to say yes.”

About 400 students participated in the fundraiser held last month. In total, Sam’s Red Sox apparel day raised $293 for the Jimmy Fund.

From start to finish, this was Sam’s idea. His mom, Eileen, said her son approached her with the idea on his own. With help from friends, Sam advertised the fundraiser with pamphlets and made the announcement over the school’s loudspeaker system.

As casual Red Sox fans, Mr. and Mrs. Dunn don’t know where Sam’s love of the game came from, but encourage it and even brought him to his first game at Fenway this year.

“He watches every night and then listens to the games on the radio in his room when its time for bed,” Mrs. Dunn said, adding its not just the Red Sox, but baseball in general he loves. Next year, Sam will be working as a batboy for the Gatemen, Wareham’s college summer baseball team.

When asked, Sam said his love of the game happened simply: “One night I was sitting watching T.V. and I remember seeing Daniel Nava batting and something clicked, and I liked it.”

And when not in school, he’s keeping up with the teams and standings. In the future, he hopes to be in the big leagues – he also has a very specific goal.

“I want to be the first left-handed shortstop. Lefties have to turn a different way, and they say it takes too long for them to make plays,” Sam said.

Should Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy ever step down as president of Red Sox nation, Sam might just be the man for the job.