A group of young softball players proved themselves to be an effective sales force last Saturday selling more than $600 worth of hot dogs during a fundraiser held for their team by the Union Save a Lot store.
The fundraiser, which was held on the sidewalk in front of the store last Saturday, was staffed by parents and coaches and the members of the Save a Lot Dixie Girls Softball Team. While their parents and coaches grilled hot dogs and prepared the plates for hungry customers, the team members turned into young sales ladies encouraging Save a Lot customers and other visitors to the Merchants Walk Shopping Center to buy a hot dog or two or three or more.
Store Manager Bobby Inman said Friday the sales pitch by the team members proved extremely successful as $620 worth of hot dogs were sold during the fundraiser. He said it was the most successful hot dog fundraiser he’d ever seen and praised the girls for their success as sales ladies.
“They were great,” Inman said. “I’ve never had a hot dog sale in my life that made that much money.”
Inman also thanked the parents and coaches for their efforts to help make the sale a success and for their support of the team.
Also thanking those who supported the effort was Cindy Lillard, the team’s coach who first suggested to Inman that the store sponsor a team.
“I want to thank everybody for supporting Dixie Girls and supporting the team,” Lillard said. “I want to thank the parents who helped with the fundraiser. I also want to thank Mr. Inman and all the workers at Save a Lot for letting us do this.”
Lillard added that opening day for Dixie Girls softball is Saturday, April 21 at 10 a.m. at City Park.
Save a Lot is sponsoring the team and the money raised by the hot dog sale will go toward that. The store is providing the players with shirts bearing the store’s name and its colors — red, white and blue. The store will also provide the team with bottles of water after each game. A second cookout is planned for near the end of the season to raise funds to purchase trophies for the team. Photos of each team member will also be placed in the store.
Food Pantry
In addition to sponsoring the team, Save a Lot is also raising funds for the First Baptist Church Food Pantry through the sale of meal deals containing two cans of corn, two cans of green beans, a Skillet dinner, a desert, and two boxes of Mac and Cheese. This effort was also kicked off with a hot dog sale which raised $110 and since then the store has raised more than $250 for the food pantry through the sale of the meal deals.
With the success of the softball team hot dog sale, Inman said he hopes to have the youth of First Baptist take part in a similar fundraiser, possibly at the beginning of May.
First Baptist has operated a food pantry/clothes closet for the past five years. The pantry/clothes closet is open from 10 a.m.-noon Thursday. The church usually has 10 boxes of food available which are distributed on a first come, first serve basis. A Union County resident and/or family that needs clothing may get up to seven articles per person once every two months. To qualify, a person seeking food and/or clothing must present identification and be a resident of Union County.
The pantry serves an average of 20 persons a week, though that number has occasionally grown to 40. The clothes the church distributes are donated while the food is acquired through a combination of donations and purchases made through First Baptist’s benevolence fund.
First Baptist Church is located 405 E. Main St., Union. For more information about it’s food pantry, call (864) 427-6241.
WSSL
Also taking part in the softball team’s fundraiser was the Greenville-based radio station WSSL 100 which did a live broadcast from the sidewalk in front of the store just down from the hot dog sale. The broadcast was arranged by Dwayne Goodwin, President and CEO of Goodwin Group Holdings, LLC which owns the Union Save a Lot.
The live broadcast was hosted by on air radio personality Kix Layton who said there was another reason the station was there.
“We love Union,” Layton said. “We love the Yellow Jackets.”
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