WELLINGTON NORTH – Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of North Wellington is once again hosting its largest fundraising event of the year: Bowl for Kids’ Sake.
“We’ve been doing it for like over 50 years, I believe,” said Teri Dykeman, who coordinates the BBBS school mentoring program and is in charge of fundraising, among other duties.
The fundraising campaign will take place at the Mount Forest Bowling Centre, with a theme of Barbie and Ken. Dressing up is encouraged, but not mandatory.
Community days
The Minto-Mapleton community will kick off the events on Feb. 4 at 9:45am.
The Mount Forest community will then be invited to bowl on Feb. 25, and the Arthur-Alma community on March 3.
If residents are unable to make their community day, they are encouraged to attend one of the other days the event is taking place so they “don’t miss out.”
The event hosts businesses and families that will register a team and raise money for BBBS.
“You have to book your time in your lane,” said Dykeman.
It is recommended that each team has six participants to ensure “you get your full game in the hour.”
To book your time slot, contact Teri Dykeman at teri.dykeman@bigbrothersbigsisters.ca or phone 519-323-4273.
Dykeman informed the Community News that email is the best way to reach her as she is often in and out of office, but she will check voice messages if she misses your call.
Make a pledge
Once participants are registered with Dykeman, they will receive pledge sheets to raise money for BBBS.
This year’s goal is to raise $50,000 – a goal that last year, was surpassed by raising about $65,000.
The money raised at the event will help keep BBBS programs running.
“It’s pretty much half of our year’s money that we require to run our programs,” Dykeman explained.
“It’s a very important [fundraiser] for us. It’s one we rely on very heavily to get through the year, being able to offer over all of our services.”
BBBS offers several services to kids in the community.
One of its more popular programs is the community match program.
This program is “your traditional Big Brother, Little Brother, Big Sister, Little Sister” program that allows an older figure to match with a young person.
They then meet once a week for a couple of hours and do “fun things together out in the community.”
The program has access to consistent support from a BBBS caseworker staff who ensures matches stay safe, committed and reach individual milestones and goals.
BBBS also has a school mentoring program that matches a child in school with a mentor for one hour a week during the school year.
The mentor goes to the school, and for that hour, the match does activities together on school property such as playing cards, scavenger hunts and arts and crafts.
“It’s all about quality one to one time,” explained Dykeman.
To learn more about its programs, visit bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.
Donations to BBBS can also be made through the website by clicking the “donate” tab on the top of the page.
