Teams Ball of Steele have fund during the recent Bowl For Kids' Sake event. Courtesy photo.
Big Brothers Big Sisters’ fundraiser connects caring community with Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring programs
VENTURA COUNTY – Bowl for Kids’ Sake, Big Brothers Big Sisters’ signature fundraiser nationwide, recently raised more than $60,000 for the youth mentoring programs of Big Brothers Big Sisters at local schools and in the community, the organization reported Wednesday in a media release. Each year, half a million people across America come together to have fun and raise money to support Big Brothers Big Sisters as they change how children grow up!
“Bowl for Kids’ Sake is all about supporting kids and teens served by the mentoring programs of Big Brothers Big Sisters. This event was created as a fun and easy way for anyone and everyone to raise some money to support our work,” Lynne West, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County, stated in the release. “You raise money, bowl a strike, make an impact and have fun along the way. It’s that simple.”
More than 2,000 bowlers and donors, representing caring communities from across Ventura County, seized the opportunity to make a positive difference by fundraising for the cause of youth mentoring.
This year, Bowl For Kids’ Sake increased its engagement with financial institutions and young professional groups by recognizing the top overall teams in the respective categories of our “Bank Bowl” and “YoPro Bowl”. Competing teams raised funds in creative ways through their networks and demonstrated exceptional team spirit and camaraderie. Chase Bank was the winner of the “Bank Bowl” and the Camarillo Chamber’s Young Professionals Group (YPG) took top honors in the “YoPro Bowl”.
Camarillo local business owner Lee Ostertag of Tonerbuys, past president, board member and chair of the Bowl For Kids’ Sake Committee, has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters for nearly a decade of service.
“Our role in this effort to help local children cannot be over stated: We needed everyone to help raise community awareness of the challenges faced by local children and to ask for the financial support needed to help change the trajectory of a child’s life,” Ostertag said. It was definitely mission accomplished with over $60,000 for the youth mentoring programs of this great organization.”
“We could not have done it without the support of our sponsors, including Best Buy and Pacific Sales, Select Staffing, Wells Fargo, Amador Whittle Architects, Coastal Embroidery, Lewis Greenwood Foundation & Steve Greenwood Esq., Snapper Jack’s, Tonerbuys Inc, County School Federal Credit Union, Ostertag Cement, Rabobank, DCH Lexus of Oxnard, National Construction Rentals, Amgen, and Michael DiSabatino,” Ostertag said. “Thanks also go to California Pizza Kitchen, Presto Pasta, and Yolanda’s Mexican Grill for providing delicious food for participants to enjoy, as well as to our media partners Ventura County Star, KVTA and Cumulus Radio.”
Funds raised allow Big Brothers Big Sisters to carefully sustain and make more mentoring matches and provide ongoing, professionally supported assistance for mentors, mentees and families to help sustain long successful relationships unique to its programs. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County currently serves more than 1,500 children and youth and has nearly 200 on a waiting list to be matched with a responsible, caring, role-model to help ensure they succeed in school, work, and life.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County:
For more than 100 years nationally and 44 locally, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, professionally supported matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country. We develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people. Learn how you can positively impact a child’s life, donate, or volunteer at www.bbsvc.org
Team Bank of America during the recent Bowl For Kids' Sake event. Courtesy photo.
Pedro A. Chavez, in headband, director of education and public affairs for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County, and the rest of the team have fun at the recent Bowl For Kids' Sake fundraising event. Courtesy photo.