The food box for the Golden Harvest Food Bank is located underneath the Aiken Pickleball bulletin board. Thanks, Jean Villa, for making it so attractive!
So, when you’re planning your next trip to play pickleball grab a can or a box and drop it in the donation box. Mike Howard and his crew will see to it that the food is collected and donated to Golden Harvest.
Drop-in play is held in gym 2 at Odell Weeks most weekday mornings. (See calendar for exact dates.) The format for this is mixed level play (all skill levels playing together) 8:45 - 10:00 AM and court designation play (courts separated by skill levels) from 10:00 - 11:00. We'd like to ask all players to be prepared to move to the court designation format at 10:00 AM. A separate paddle cue should be placed over by Court 6 for the 3.5 and above for use on Courts 5 and 6.
Pickleball: New rules for 2023 — No spin serves and watch what you wear. Click here for the 2023 Official Rule Book with all the changes.
Sometimes, all it takes is one person or one group of people with initiative to make a big difference. Such is the case with Mike Howard and his pickleball group. For a while now, this group has been bringing non-perishable food items to their games to be donated to the Golden Harvest Food Bank. This past November, they upped their game by promoting a canned food drive throughout the entire pickleball community. Volunteers picked up donations at the Smith Hazel, Odell Weeks, and Gregg Park recreation areas. By the end of the food drive, a whopping 369 pounds of food were donated to Golden Harvest by the pickleball community.
But it doesn’t end there. The same small group of people held a raffle to raise money for Golden Harvest, which advertises that for every $1 raised they can provide three meals. For several weeks in December, this group sold raffle tickets, culminating their efforts on December 18 at the Dink for Tots event held at the Virginia Acres Park pickleball courts. By the end of the day, they had raised $1,005, which translates to 3,015 meals at a time when demand for food resources is at a high because of inflation and supply chain issues.
The initiative of just a few people along with the generosity of the entire pickleball community has made an incredible impact to the Aiken area: 369 pounds of food and an additional 3,015 meals. That’s cause for celebration. That’s Pickleball with a Purpose.
Ed Chavis of Golden Harvest, Beth Eberhard, and Mike Howard with the donated food items and representative check.
Sign up is available for the next Players Rating Session to be held at the Smith Hazel Recreation Center. Need a minimum of four signed up before date is determined. Click here to sign up