A Meijer Volunteer’s Perspective

By Ellen Bruinsma

The Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give is one of the best weeks of the year at Blythefield Country Club. I have been involved with the tournament since it began. I am the chairperson for Volunteer Services.  Over 1,000 individuals are registered to volunteer throughout the week. My committee members check the volunteers in each day and make sure they know where they need to go, and also hand out their volunteer shirts, hats and golf passes.

I enjoy meeting the volunteers each day. Many of them return each year to work the tournament and sign-up to do the same job.  That consistency helps to make this tournament so successful. We may not see each other during the year but when the tournament week arrives, it is like "old home week.”  We get a chance to catch up on each other's lives and share the good times and also the hard events in our lives.

Being a golfer myself, I enjoy watching these professional women golfers.  After their round of golf, many of the ladies are very willing to sign autographs for the kids who come to watch the tournament.

I love this tournament because the proceeds go to the Meijer Simply Give Program.  The money goes to food pantries to feed people in need wherever Meijer has stores in the Midwest.  This is a program that is important to me since I help to run a food pantry for my church.  Each week we serve about 70 families in our community who are in need of food and other basic necessities.  I see firsthand how important a food pantry is in our community.

This tournament is one of my best weeks at Blythefield.  We are all just ordinary people, but together we are doing some extraordinary things!

To sign up to be a volunteer, visit the tournament website at: https://meijerlpgaclassic.com/volunteers/