Paddle for a Cause Benefits Meals on Wheels

Laura Lyons and Lindyl Arno were among the enthusiastic participants in last year’s Paddleball Tournament to benefit Meals on Wheels. This year’s tourney is on Saturday, March 26. Photo by Pam Welch

The Guilford Swim and Racquet Club (GSRC) is partnering with Guilford’s Meals on Wheels (MOW) for their third annual Paddleball Tournament on Saturday, March 26. The event was originally started during the height of the COVID pandemic, according to the organizers, to provide an outdoor activity for members but has since grown into an important fundraising effort for MOW.

Christi Burton, executive director of Guilford Interfaith Volunteers and director of MOW, said after proposing the idea several years ago, the racquet club immediately jumped on board. The event has become a critical part of her organization’s focus to raise much-needed funding.

“I have been a member of the club for a while and they have different initiatives to support various causes during the year,” said Burton. “They support autism awareness through a tennis tournament and they support Parkinson’s awareness through a pickleball tournament, so this is kind of new for them and didn’t have a dedicated organization or designated paddleball tournament that benefited a specific organization. I proposed [the idea] to Pam Welch, who runs the paddleball section and she embraced the idea right away, as did the owner Sarah Boone. They want to support meals on Wheels on an ongoing basis from here forward.”

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