It’s a heavenly weekly schedule, no matter how you shuffle it around. Play golf with a group at The Preserve on Monday. Play with another group at Great Waters on Wednesday. Play with your spouse on the weekend. Include one night for a dinner group and one with a wine group, and life is very good.
“We really are blessed,” says Bill Bonnington, speaking on behalf of himself, his wife, and a countless number of Reynolds Members. “But as nice as that part of my schedule is, my life revolves around the third Saturday of every month. That’s when I find my purpose.”
On those Saturday mornings, instead of standing on a tee box, Bill stands with volunteers in the parking lot at The First Methodist Church of Greensboro Lake Oconee at 6 a.m. This is the signature project for the Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties: passing out grocery bags filled with the most basic staples of life that are not at all basic for the 400 people on the receiving end.
“These are neighbors in our greater community and they’re literally living on the edge,” Bill says. “Some of them start lining up at 4 a.m. just to make sure they get some food, even though we’ve never run out. Imagine how you feel when you skip one meal. Some of these people might not have eaten for … who knows how long?”
Monetary donations from sponsors make it possible for Second Harvest to buy pallets of nonperishable food from Golden Harvest Food Bank and fresh produce from Ripe Things in Greensboro. There’s one major sponsor for each month. Reynolds and The Ritz-Carlton sponsor two months each, or a total of one-third of the year.
The volunteers who organize and distribute the food come from every corner of the community. They’re students from Greene County High School and Lake Oconee Academy, members of the Elks Lodge and Rotary Club, patients from a drug rehabilitation center, and medical professionals from St. Mary’s Hospital. There’s always a broad contingent of Reynolds Members, Reynolds staff, and Reynolds executives. In this parking lot on the third Saturday of the month, social and economic status is erased by unity.
“I love the camaraderie,” Bill says, “but what stands out most are the eyes of the people in need. I always notice how they light up when they see us. That light is what keeps me coming back.”
Bill’s eyes were opened a few years ago when he sat on the porch with a friend, listening to him talk about golf, dinner groups, and pickleball. Then the friend mentioned a big gap that existed.
“He was describing my life,” Bill says. “A few days later, he brought me to help distribute food on a winter morning. One woman, probably 80 years old, was waiting in a car that was barely drivable. When she smiled and thanked me, I realized we were doing more than filling stomachs with food.”
