A night of fun, for kids’ sake, at Comet Bowl

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

It doesn’t matter if you’re a “Big” or a “Little,” a night at the local bowling alley is fun for everyone.

All the lanes at Comet Bowl in Charles City were occupied Monday evening for a celebration and fundraiser for Floyd County Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Casey Conry, special events coordinator of Floyd County Big Brothers/Big Sisters, said 20 to 30 businesses and organizations in Floyd County contributed, either with money or in-kind contributions. She guessed that they had raised close to $1,000, between sponsorships and fundraising efforts.

“All the money we raise here goes to support the program and families here locally,” Conry said. “Comet Bowl has been so great to us. This is the first time we’ve ever done it here, so that’s a pretty good turnout.”

The event, called “Bowl for Kids’ Sake,” is the group’s signature fundraiser. Each year about a half a million people across America come together to bowl, have fun and raise money to support Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Jenni Miller, program manager for Floyd County Big Brothers/Big Sisters, said the fundraiser at Comet Bowl Monday will benefit the one-to-one mentoring program in Floyd County.

“It’s a really great program to match a child with an adult mentor,” she said. “We’ve been in Charles City since October of 2016. There was a mentoring program here prior to that so we adopted some of the mentors and ‘mentees’ that were in that program.”

The Bowl for Kids’ Sake event is also a thank-you to the community for support. It was clear that bowling expertise was not necessary, and there was a lot of good food, games, contests and prizes.

As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer-supported mentoring network, Big Brothers/Big Sisters makes monitored matches between adult volunteers known as “Bigs,” and children known as “Littles,” in communities across the country.

The goal in Northeast Iowa, according to Miller, is to develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people.

Staff members work with local education and juvenile justice communities to find children facing adversity and assess how the programs can have the greatest impact. Big Brothers/Big Sisters targets children living in single-parent homes, growing up in poverty and coping with parental incarceration.

“Right now, in Charles City alone we have 28 matches,” Miller said.

She said there were still more than 20 children in Floyd County looking to be placed with a Big Brother or Big Sister.

The organization depends on donations to conduct background checks on volunteers to ensure child safety; and provide ongoing support for children, families and volunteers to build and sustain long-lasting relationships.