Merry DeBoer serves as the Second Vice President of Michigan State USBC Women’s Bowling Association. Although active in the sport for a long time, Merry heard the call for urgently needed support for BVL and wanted to take action. Considering various options to raise money for BVL at the center or league level, she arrived at one conclusion: she thought “BVL is not just for bowlers, it’s for veterans.”
With that in mind, she immediately opted to utilize a workplace charity fundraiser. You see, Merry is the revenue management supervisor at USF Holland, Inc a shipping company in Holland, Mich. where a number of years ago, an office-wide program to help raise money for charity was implemented. Each week, the more than 150 employees give $2 into the fund, and in return, they can wear jeans to work every Friday. “It’s a simple thing any company can do – you can spend way more than $2 on a cup of coffee, so throwing that amount in the kitty is painless,” explains Merry.
So Merry used that same workforce initiative to easily raise money for BVL. “It doesn’t matter where the money comes from with BVL – it matters where it’s going to… And we know the need is great,” says Merry.
