ANNIE SILVESTER/Bullet News
The 21st annual Tim Hortons Bowl for Kids Sake kicked off in St. Catharines today at Parkway Lanes. It is Big Brothers Big Sisters main fund-raising event that continues for three days across Canada where people get together with friends, family, and co-workers in support of mentoring programs in the community.
The St. Catharines, Thorold & District Branch is celebrating 75 years in the region and Dale Davis, CEO of the organization, talked to Bullet News about the funneling of the money being raised locally.
“In particular for the Niagara region and for our area we need to raise $200,000 to support the 1400 children we serve annually and also to get the 280 on the wait list matched with caring mentors.”
Davis says community support has been fantastic with close to 1900 people (300 teams) signed up to come out over the next several days to raise monies.
“This campaign allows the community to come together because they really value the work that we do and they value mentoring in the community and in their children’s lives as a preventative means of support.”
Besides being a great cause, the pirate-themed event had everyone in high spirits. Tracey Newman from Laura Secord Secondary School’s “Swashbucklers” talked about her team as they cheered it up in the background.
The team’s efforts raised $1,200.
Rhonda-Lynn Robson from Prime Time Living in St. Catharines whose team raised $1,500 says their company has been involved in the campaign for many years “plus the boss said we had to.”
“It’s all about teamwork…it’s all about bringing the team together and helping out in the community that we all live in and help bringing the kids up as responsible young adults.”
The campaign will remain open until the “critical” dollars are raised. For more information and to donate visit: www.bowlforkids.ca. Also watch Bullet TV this week for video highlights of the event.
