Staff at the Buccaneer West Des Moines office opted to select the Big Brothers Big Sisters “Bowling for Kids Sake” as our first charity event for 2009. Bowling for Kids Sake (BFKS) is a series of bowling parties held at a local bowling center. This is a premiere fund raising event for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Each BFKS team is made up of four to six individuals who have each raised at least $100 for the event. Their reward is two free games and free bowling shoe rental.
The eight Buccaneer staff members who participated in the event at Plaza Lanes in Des Moines were: Chris Boeke, Christie Brown, Jill Danner, Mary Eagan, Maureen Fisher, Mike Rozendaal, Dan Parks and Cindy Weigel. These eight people raised a total of over $1,500 dollars from fellow coworkers, family and their own pockets for this event. Half of the money that Chris raised came from pledges that the QA team based on his overall bowling score for the two games. Buccaneer was also a corporate sponsor and our logo appeared on the marketing banners and t shirts.
The local CBS affiliate was present at the event and had a news clip: http://www.kcci.com/video/18775753/index.html. If you know where to look and watch closely, you will see one of our SDI team members in action.
While the scores from the two games the teams bowled that day have been destroyed forever, we can just say that we need to practice a whole lot more before bowling again. The group had a lot of fun and laughter but most of all enjoyed doing something positive to raise money for the kids.
BBBS is said to be the largest and most effective mentoring organization in the United States. The mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that have a measurable impact on youth. They mentor children between the ages of 6 through 18. BBBS has local agencies all around the country. Please go to their website www.bbbs.org and enter your zip code in the find my local agency to find a volunteer opportunity near you.