BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS SEEKS TEAMS TO “BOWL FOR KIDS’ SAKE”

Big Sister Heather Trask, shown here with her Little Sister
Samantha,  raised over $1,200 at last year’s
Bowl For Kids’ Sake event.

Rockland, Maine - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine is looking for businesses, organizations and individuals to participate in its annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake event.  Bowlers on each team raise pledge money to support youth mentoring in Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Somerset and Waldo Counties.  Last year, 560 children benefited from Big Brothers Big Sisters program – the largest number in the agency’s 35-year history.

This year, three separate BFKS events will take place.  The first event will be held in Penobscot County from April 6-12 at Bangor-Brewer Lanes, Brewer and Family Fun Entertainment Center, Bangor.  Then, from April 22-27, the event will be held in Kennebec and Somerset Counties at Central Maine Family Fun Center in Skowhegan and Sparetime Recreation in Waterville and Augusta.  The final event will take place in the Midcoast from April 28 to May 11 at All-Play Family Entertainment Center in Waldoboro, Point Lookout Lanes in Northport, and Oakland Park Lanes in Rockport.  Both candlepin and 10-pin bowling options and weeknight and weekend dates and times are available.

Bowl for Kids’ Sake is agency’s largest fundraising event of the year and involves hundreds of teams raising pledges to support Big Brothers Big Sisters 1-to-1 youth mentoring program.  Event coordinator Cathy Hardy expects this year’s event to be the agency’s largest ever.  “With the addition of Kennebec Valley to our service area, we’re hoping  to add another 100-150 teams,” she says.  “We also expect to add more school teams from many of the local high schools who provide mentors for our School-Based Mentoring.  We’re hoping that high schools will create teams from each of their classes (freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors) and challenge each other on the lanes as well as with their fund-raising goals. We also want to involve local police departments, fire departments, and EMTs to challenge each other.”

Local businesses can support the event by becoming event and lane sponsors, donating prizes for the top fundraisers, and encouraging employees to participate as Team Captains and team members.  Bowlers then raise money by soliciting pledges from people they know.  Each bowler is encouraged to raise a minimum of $50 in pledges; those who raise $100 or more are entered in raffle drawings to win prizes, and every bowler gets a t-shirt as well.  Registration forms (rosters and pledge sheets) and bowling dates are posted online at the BBBS website (www.bbbsmcm.org) .

Costumes, clever team names, and friendly competition are encouraged.  Business teams will be joined by teams of Big/Little matches who participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters School and Community-Based Mentoring program.

BBBSMCM’s CEO Alex Gaeth encourages anyone who wants to form a team to call Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine (593-0380) to receive the necessary forms to sign up and select their bowling date.  “This is a great way to support Big Brothers Big Sisters.   It’s a fun way to spend time with friends, family, and co-workers and raise money to support an agency that helps local kids.  Every dollar raised through Bowl for Kids’ Sake directly funds our mentoring programs in Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Somerset and Waldo Counties and helps to maintain and sustain our mentoring relationships, increasing kids’ chances for success.”

Major Sponsors for this year’s event are Hannaford Supermarkets, Bangor Hydro Electric Company, Bath Savings Institution, and Kennebec Savings Bank.

BBBS of Midcoast Maine Announces Expansion to Kennebec Valley

Augusta, Maine - In less than 3 months since Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kennebec Valley closed its doors, another agency, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine (BBBSMCM) today announced it would be expanding its service area to cover Kennebec and Somerset Counties.   The agency presently provides 1-to-1 youth mentoring services to 560 youth in Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot and Waldo Counties, and expects with the addition of Kennebec and Somerset Counties to build the capacity to change the lives of 800 youth annually.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine primarily serves youth who come from single parent, low-income families and struggle socially and academically.  Some have behavioral challenges, such as poor performance in school, low self-esteem, or they may distrust others or disregard authority.

MOTORCYCLE EVENT TO BENEFIT BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS

MOTORCYCLE EVENT TO BENEFIT BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS


Rockland, Maine - All bikers are invited to join the  on June 10 as they hold its First Annual Poker Run to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine (BBBSMCM).  Motorcycle clubs from all over Maine have been invited to participate, and anyone with a motorcycle is welcome to join in.  The rain date for the event is June 24.

Riders can sign in for the event starting at 10 AM at the Time Out Pub, 275 S. Main St., Rockland.  The cost is $20 for the first hand and $10 for a second hand.   A scenic ride through the Midcoast area will culminate at the Steel Brethren Clubhouse at 1097 Western Rd., Warren, where there will be entertainment, food, and raffles for many door prizes donated by local businesses, plus a 50/50 raffle drawing.

“We hope to have a large turnout for this ride, and are happy to donate the proceeds to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine,” says event organizer Jim Batty of the Steel Brethren Motorcycle Club.  “We’d like to have it become a yearly event.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters mission is to provide children in Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot and Waldo Counties facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported, 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.  Money raised from this event will be used to support BBBSMCM's Big/Little matches.  Each match costs about $1,000 annually to create and support.  Presently, BBBSMCM serves 560 youth in the four counties.

For more information about the event, contact Jim Batty at 542-0155.