Ashley Katch Staff WriterA lot goes in to making Simpson College’s athletic department the program that it is. The Gold Club is made up of former athletes, alumni, faculty, parents, and other athletic supporters who share the common interest of helping in the development and growth of Simpson College athletics.Sports Information Director Matt Turk defines the Gold Club as, “a supplemental organization that helps with the needs of the athletic department.”The Gold Club organizes various fund raising campaigns designed to provide supplemental financial support for the athletic department. Gold Club members help purchase many things for Simpson athletics. They buy Most Valuable Player awards, senior gifts, conference championship watches and help with banquet expenses. When a member of the Gold Club donates money, he or she can specify what they want half of the money to benefit. This helps to get parents and other supporters to donate money because they feel they can see where it is going.This year the Gold Club is undergoing a lot of reorganization. It used to be an external club, but this year it has become internal as a part of the athletic department.Athletic Office Secretary Pat Hicks spoke of events that were in the process of being developed. “In our restructuring, we are planning to host alumni events for each team,” Hicks said. Many Simpson College athletes feel that the Gold Club does a lot of help out the program. Senior Tessa Van Oosbree thinks that it is a great idea to do alumni events. “It gives players a good perspective of the athletes who played before them,” Van Oosbree said. “After graduation, I will look forward to coming back and watching the future Simpson College teams play and getting together with old teammates.” There are different levels of membership in the Gold Club, each of which comes with different benefits. The presidential membership is the largest, where a person must donate $300 or above. With this membership, a person receives four passes to all regular season home events, a president’s pin and presidential reception, along with everything the red club receives.To have a gold membership, a person must donate $100. The person receives two passes to all regular season events, a gold club pin and everything included in the red membership. For a red membership, a person must donate $50. The person receives a gold club window decal, a storm athletic calendar and “members only” gold club social events.For recent college graduates, a rookie membership is available. The cost is $25, and a person receives the same things as a red membership holder.Along with all of these great benefits, a member also receives exclusive prices on all merchandise that is sold on the Gold Club’s Web site. Gold Club members can also be found at home Simpson Storm athletic events, working the concession stands or selling merchandise.