Everything around Linda Grandy is coming up roses this September as she and the Rose Ball committee prepare for the grandest ball of them all at the Poinsett Club on the 16th of the month. As the chair of the Rose Ball committee, Linda is leading a team of volunteers to transform the venue with over 4,000 roses, all in an effort to raise funds for 13 Greenville area charities. Many roses from the event are donated by local florists, while others are lovingly given by local gardeners who have a passion for rose growing. Regardless of origin, all will come together to create an elegant, enchanted evening for the greater good of the Greenville community.
Managed by The Charity Ball Board, the Rose Ball is Greenville’s longest running community benefit. 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the Rose Ball, which was originally founded by Mrs. Charles E. Daniel and Mrs. Ellison S. McKissick in 1970. This year, the Rose Ball hopes to raise over $400,000 to support the Breast Health Center at Bon Secours St. Francis in addition to twelve other community organizations such as Greenville Free Medical Clinic, Pendleton Place Children’s Shelter, Meyer Center for Special Children and Project Host. Over its forty year history, the Rose Ball has raised more than $2.4 million to benefit the needs of the people of Greenville.
As for Linda, both the event and the causes have a special place in her heart. She has been involved with the Rose Ball for eight years, and has seen firsthand the benefits of many of these organizations have on the community. She is honored to hold the chairmanship position, but the real reward comes from knowing that because of the hard work and support of the Rose Ball committee, The Charity Ball Board, and many sponsors and benefactors, so many lives will be improved. Funds raised from the ball will ensure a woman will finally have her first mammogram, a disabled preschooler will have transportation to school, a cancer patient will have life-sustaining food, and an abused child will receive medical treatment.
For more information on attending the Rose Ball or to learn more about its beneficiaries, visit www.roseball.org.