How Can You Support MOW Fundraiser?

The 6th Annual Meals on Wheels- Sam Wyche Food Fight Bowl, presented by Save-A-Lot, will take place Friday, August 23rd at Easley High School. An avid football fan, Dwayne Goodwin, President and CEO of the Goodwin Holdings Group, says he is “pumped up” about supporting the largest fundraising event for Pickens County Meals on Wheels for a second year in a row. “My daughter is 2013 Easley High graduate. I take great pride in operating a Save-A-Lot store in Pickens where we offer quality foods and customer savings to both the Pickens and Easley communities.” 

On the night of the big game, Pickens and Easley football teams will take the field and compete for ownership of the coveted “Food Fight Bowl” trophy where Easley will vigorously defend its two year winning streak and 2-3 record on the field.

The “Food Fight Bowl” trophy was designed to inspire each team to have a special reward in a game that has been a classic rivalry since 1923, when Easley won the very first meeting by a score of 7-6. The top of the trophy was taken off Coach Sam Wyche’s 1988 NFL Coach of the Year trophy and placed on a new base, becoming rotating Meals on Wheels Food Fight Bowl trophy. The prestigious “Timmy Award” was given to Coach Wyche, by the Washington Touchdown Club for his Cincinnati Bengals' 14 game winning season and representing the AFC in Super Bowl XXIII vs. the San Francisco 49ers. 

In the weeks leading up to the game, students from both high schools will vie for the rotating “Ultimate Food Fight” trophy by raising funds for Pickens County Meals on Wheels. The trophy and bragging rights are awarded to the school that raises the most money. Pickens High has a 4-0-1 record in fundraising and has proven tough competition for Easley off the field. At half-time, Grasshopper Mowers will race down the field revealing the winner of the 2013 “Ultimate Food Fight.” In five years, the students from both student bodies have raised a combined total of $126,934 for Pickens County Meals on Wheels, the equivalent of 25,386 meals.

To assist the student’s in their fundraising efforts, the Save-A-Lot store in Pickens will host an in-store challenge from August 1 until August 23. During this time, the public can support its favorite team by purchasing $1 pin-ups in support of either Pickens or Easley. In addition to Save-A-Lot’s hot summer savings, this special fundraising challenge provides an opportunity for each school to maximize its fundraising efforts during their final push leading up to the game. 

In its 6th year, “The Food Fight Bowl” has become an event that reminds us about the important role Meals on Wheels, and its team of caring volunteers, plays in the communities across Pickens County. Gold Sponsors: McKinney Dodge, South Carolina Bank and Trust, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler and the Fee family are proud to give back to the communities in which they operate by supporting the students of Easley and Pickens as they rally the community in support of homebound elderly and disabled citizens.

“Meals on Wheels clients are from generations that have shaped who we are today: our grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, veterans, and neighbors. All have experienced a significant decline in their health, their independence, and their ability to perform the most basic daily activities,” says Meta Bowers, Executive Director of Pickens County Meals on Wheels, “So on August 23, when you watch Easley and Pickens fighting it out on the gridiron, not only are they fighting to defeat their arch rival, they are also fighting for an extraordinary cause, the battle against hunger and loneliness in Pickens County.” 

Supporting the students and Meals on Wheels is simple:

·       Support student-sponsored events and fundraising efforts throughout the summer. 

·       Organize a “Brown Bag Lunch” at your workplace. Pick any day between now and August 16 to bring your lunch to work in lieu of eating out. Contribute the money you would have spent dining out to Pickens County Meals on Wheels in support of your favorite team.

·       Support your team through the Pickens Save-A-Lot Store’s $1 pin-up challenge from August 1 through August 23. 

·       Sponsor a Senior: $5 for 1 meal, $20 for a week, $100 for a month, or $1200 for a year.