Crappie Challenge on March 20 will help feed Spartanburg’s homeless children and veterans

Tim Holden is always searching for ways to help Spartanburg’s homeless. This time, he’s going with what he knows.

On March 20,  Kingdom Child Ministry and Holden’s Marine Center will present the 2021 Crappie Challenge at Lake Bowen. All of the entry fees collected for the event will go back to the fisherman in payouts, and all of the fish caught will go to feed homeless children and veterans, Holden said.

“Guys like fishing for money. With the Crappie Challenge, they can fish for money and help kids.”

The owner of Holden’s Marine Center in Spartanburg and a member of Church Builders Tabernacle, Holden has been volunteering to help feed Spartanburg’s homeless every week for the past 18 years. This past Christmas, he and his fellow church members headed an initiative to collect clothes, coats, socks, blankets, toys, tents, air mattresses, hygiene products and other items for the area’s homeless.

“During one of our dinners, I asked our homeless friends to write down something they’d like to eat that we hadn’t prepared for them,” Holden said. “Fish and steak were number one and number two, and I told them I had them covered on the fish.”

Those wishing to participate in the Crappie Challenge on Saturday, March 20, at Lake Bowen can sign up at Holden’s Marine, 1265 Boiling Springs Road in Spartanburg. The tournament will begin at safe light, with weigh-in held at 2 p.m. Each participant’s largest seven fish will be weighed.

The entry fee is $30 per person and $60 per boat, with a 100 percent payout. The event can accommodate up to 50 boats.

Holden’s Marine and Kingdom Child Ministry will stage similar fishing challenges at Lake Blalock in April and Lake Greenwood in May.