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History of the Event
BI-LO has been the title sponsor of this important industry and charity event for the past 24 years. We are very proud to celebrate 25 years of giving with the 2008 tournament. This annual commitment of time and resources is indicative of BI-LO's corporate philosophy. The BI-LO Charity Classic is the brainchild of a group of Greenville, SC businessmen that included Bill Yingling, a former president of BI-LO, Inc. Founded in 1961, BI-LO was firmly established as Greenville's hometown grocery store by the time the BI-LO Charity Classic was founded in 1984. BI-LO's sponsorship of a major fundraiser to aid the city's fledgling Meals On Wheels hunger relief program seemed inherent. The tournament's built-in base of support from grocery vendors and other industry suppliers have made it the largest one-day benefit golf tournament in the United States. |
| In 1994, the BI-LO Charity Classic was featured in Golf Digest magazine in an article titled "The Bottom Line On Charity." The magazine cited the BI-LO tournament as "a textbook example of golf and charity working together. What makes this tournament remarkable is that virtually every dollar raised goes directly to Meals On Wheels," wrote Golf Digest's Don Wade. |
| Since its inception, the BI-LO Charity Classic has raised over $39 million for nonprofit organizations in BI-LO's four-state operating area of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. The tournament reached an incredible milestone in 2004, raising a record $3.7 million and expanding its beneficiaries to more than 500 nonprofit organizations dedicated to hunger relief, educational opportunities and the health and well being of children. The 2007 tournament broke all records raising more than $5.5 million dollars for the benefit of more than 500 charities. |
2008 BI-LO Charity Classic Board of Directors
Back row: Michael Hayes, Steve Mayer, Joyce Smart, Brian Hotarek, Anthea Jones, and Jeff Brinkley.
Front row: Tye Anthony, Bill McMartin, Marshall Collins III, Rondel Cuyler, Lynn Faust, Carol HasBrouck Browning, Larry Greer, and Ken Jones.
Not pictured: Dean Anderson, Steve Brandt, John Burgess, and Joe Erwin.
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