NC VIPS launches cornhole tournament to fund literacy programs
NC VIPS used cornhole to fund Reading Buddy, its literacy push into nine Brunswick County schools, with Backyard and Advanced brackets for two-player teams.
North Carolina Volunteers in Public Schools used its first annual cornhole tournament to bankroll Reading Buddy, the literacy program it is expanding to nine elementary schools across Brunswick County. The volunteers in that program spend about an hour each week with elementary students, working toward grade-level reading by the end of third grade.
The inaugural tournament was staged at AYE! Toro Restaurant in Leland, with registration opening at noon and competition beginning at 1 p.m. NC VIPS split the field into two divisions, a Backyard Division for casual players and an Advanced Division for competitive teams, giving the fundraiser a broad entry point without blunting the edge of the brackets.
Entry was set at $40 per two-person team in the Backyard Division and $60 per team in the Advanced Division. First, second and third place prizes were awarded in each division, and teams could register ahead of time through the Scoreholio app or sign up on site the day of the event. That format gave the fundraiser the structure of a real tournament, not just a community gathering with boards and bags.
Cornhole fit the job because it is easy to scale. A two-player team can enter at a relatively low cost, the divisions let newcomers and regular tournament players compete in the same event, and the prize structure gives the brackets enough weight to feel like more than a novelty. For NC VIPS, that mattered because the money was tied directly to a program with a concrete classroom goal: helping young readers get on grade level by third grade.
The event also pointed to a larger fundraising ambition. Sponsorships were still available, which suggested NC VIPS saw the tournament as a model that could return, not just a one-off charity stop. With a simple registration process, two-entry price points and separate brackets for different skill levels, the format was built to be copied by other school-support groups looking for a repeatable way to raise money and awareness.
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