“One, two, three ... bowl,” said the IU senior and vice president of Big Brothers Big Sisters at IU.
The first bowlers started their frames bowling backwards, per Morales’ instructions. Morales’ T-shirt, underneath her shimmering cape, bore the 2015 Bowl for Kids’ Sake logo.
Bowl for Kids’ Sake is the largest source of funding for Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, President of BBBS at IU Kaitlynne Silvers said. This year, the event is at 6 and 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at IMU Bowling and Billiards.
Mark Voland, program director for BBBS of South Central Indiana, said IU Bowl For Kids’ Sake is solely driven by the efforts of student organization Big Brothers Big Sisters at IU.
“The whole IU Bowl for Kids’ Sake program really is about IU students giving back to the community youths here in Bloomington,” he said.
The fundraising goal this year is $20,000, a $10,000 increase from last year. Voland said the group reached their goal Monday night, raising $20,525.
The 8 p.m. session teams, Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, Delta Zeta sorority and the AudSquad, IU Auditorium’s team, were major contributors. Voland said these teams had potential to break the fundraising record for one session, previously standing at $4,500.
The three teams combined raised $5,915 for their session.
Meeting the goal of $20,000 would alow BBBS of South Central Indiana to match 20 students with 20 youths, Voland said.
The money is used to fund the process of matching a Little to a Big, Voland said, including interviews of the volunteers and their prospective pair family, background checks, training, providing match specialists and events for matches.
“The money raised — it develops that relationship between mentor and mentee,” he said. “The main part of it is support, the support that we provide those relationships.”
Beyond fundraising, Voland said Bowl for Kids’ Sake is a way to promote participation and awareness for the BBBS program.
“It creates more awareness of who we are and what our needs are,” he said.
Freshman Maddie Higgins is involved with the fundraising committee for BBBS at IU. She said she personally raised $150.
Her team was Teter Thompson 2, a team of volunteers from her floor in the dorms at Teter Quad.
Higgins organized the group and made the team T-shirts. Printed on the back was their slogan — “Teter is Tight. Teter Thompson 2 is Tighter.”
Higgins said she is involved in the organization because she hopes to be paired with a Little in the future and knows the costs included in that process.
“I wanted to get a big team going just to come out and bowl and support a ?really good cause,” she said.
Silvers said she has no doubt Bowl for Kids’ Sake will surpass its fundraising goal, but does not want the success to stop there.
“For me it’s just a way to engage other people in the IU community in a cause they wouldn’t otherwise be involved in,” she said. ?“Ideally, I just want it to keep growing and growing.”
Bowl for Kids’ Sake has grown to a record number of 44 teams this year. Students are still able to register for the event on its webpage.
For next year, Silvers said, “We’ll probably need even more nights of ?bowling.”
