Bowl for Kids’ Sake is Big Brothers Big Sisters signature fundraising campaign that takes place annually and has been around for more than 40 years,but the last 2 years of having to cancel or modify this event makes this year’s campaign even more important! That’s why we’re heading back to the alley this year and we need people like YOU who believe in supporting programs that create strong developmental relationships for kids in our community! BBBS connects over 400 youth with carefully selected mentors and nurtures these friendships to ensure youth build social emotional skills, improve mental health and well-being and increase educational and community engagement! 

In celebration of our 50^th anniversary we’re bowling for gold during this year’s “Golden Bowl”! Dust off those gold bowling shoes, wrap yourself in gold ribbon, wear your gold jewelry and tiara, and join us to mark this milestone by bowling in support of mentoring for young people in Saint John, Kings and Charlotte Counties! 

During this very trying time, we have witnessed an elevated need for mentoring programs and this event is a chance to help us rebuild in-person programs and connect more youth in developmental relationships. It's also an opportunity for your company to participate in a fun team building activity for a good cause. It’s a great morale builder as employees place high value on their company being a good citizen. Connectedness to community in a time of social separation is vital to our well-being and productiveness, and employees feel this when they are part of a positive initiative in the workplace. 

You can also get together with friends and family and have a fun time bowling during the scheduled bowling alley dates and times or if you prefer a virtual event or smaller group bowling then we encourage you to bowl whenever and wherever you like. All of the funds raised directly support Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mentoring programs in your community! 

*Teams consist of 4 to 6 friends, family members, or co-workers *You can challenge another company, group or team to a bowl off or fundraising competition *Choose a 90-minute bowling time *Dress up in gold and meet us at the sparkling bowling alley *Trivia and prizes for fundraising efforts *Participants must raise a minimum of $100 to be eligible for a prize! *Raise funds through various options including events, selling our raffle tickets and/or through our online platform *All proceeds help expand the networks of support for our young people through funds raised for this glittery party at Fairview Lanes.

This event is vital to the agency’s ability to meet the ever-growing demand for programs. We're excited to get back to the alley and to welcome participants in person at Fairview Lanes. As always there will be fun activities, free Subway, exciting prizes & incentives, and an amazing raffle to help you raise funds and of course bragging rights if you win a challenge!

EVENT SCHEDULE

Thursday May 26th - is the evening set aside for School teams, PALS partners, community and company teams at Fairview Lanes. We have 3 shifts, 90 minutes each. 5:00pm - 6:30pm; 6:30pm - 8:00pm; 8:00pm - 9:30pm 

Saturday May 28th - is open for any team to bowl in Saint John at Fairview Lanes. We have 6 shifts of bowling; 90 minutes each. 10:00am - 11:30am; 11:30am - 1:00pm; 1:00pm - 2:30pm; 2:30pm - 4:00pm; 4:00pm - 5:30pm; 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Thursday June 9^th – is a J.D. Irving, Ltd. Lawn Bowling event at Chown Park from 11am to 2pm.

If preferred, a virtual event or smaller group bowling can be scheduled during a day and time whenever and however teams like.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE? 

REGISTER your team and select your bowling time here: https://saintjohn.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/event/bowl-kids-sake/ We can also email you a copy of the team registration form which can be sent back to us to register your team and pick your bowling time. You also need to let us know the details if you’ve chosen a smaller, alternative way to bowl.

CREATE YOUR ONLINE FUNDRAISING team and personal profile on the Simply K fundraising platform here and start connecting with your network of supporters to raise funds! It's that easy! Of course, you can always host various activities and events to help with your fundraising and/or sell some of our Travel/Adventure Raffle tickets where all tickets sold go directly to your teams’ efforts if you prefer raising funds offline!

For more information email laurie.collins@bigbrothersbigsisters, call us at 635-1145.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR TEAM OR INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISING PAGE

STEP 1 - Start your team or individual fundraising page by clicking on the FUNDRAISE button and setting your goal. Minimum of $100 to be eligible for prizes.

STEP 2 - Get creative/customize your page! Once you complete the online sign up, you will receive a confirmation e-mail to personalize your team & individual fundraising page. This is an important step! Add a photo, update the text and make your page your own by customizing your description, sharing how long you have been involved with BBBS or why you’re supporting this campaign. If you are a team captain and want to have individual fundraising pages, team members can JOIN YOUR TEAM and create and customize their own page. This is needed if individuals want a personal fundraising link to send out and share. If you are going to fundraise just as a team, then you may not need personal pages.

STEP 3 - Share your fundraising page with your network and ask them to contribute. Send your team or individual fundraising link in an email, text, post on your social media and ask others to support you in your fundraising. Be sure to TEST THE LINK FIRST. You want to make sure you send the right link so always start with sending the link to yourself in an email or text and then click to make sure it works! Be sure to send out reminders to your potential supporters so they don’t forget to help you out.

See here for more information about setting up your fundraising campaign on Simply K: https://home.simplyk.io/blog/peer-to-peer-fundraising-campaign-in-6-steps