Bowl for Kids’ Sake comes to Harbor Lanes next month

Bowl for Kids’ Sake is a fundraiser event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Coast (BBBSNC). Taking place on March 1 and 2 this year at Harbor Lanes in Eureka, anyone can register a team to bowl.

Executive Director of BBBSNC, Florence Parks, spoke about the importance of the event regarding the non-profit organization.

“This is one of the times that the community can get involved and invest to make sure we have more matches,” Parks said. “The more resources we raise, the more mentor matches that we can create for the year.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters offers mentors for young people to help them all the way through high school. This means offering a positive influence for kids and helping them find their passions in life.

Heather Markson, program specialist for BBBSNC said that having a mentor is important for success.

“It’s important for kids to have mentors because just one positive adult can change the trajectory of somebody who may not have the best path in the first place,” Markson said. “You just foster that passion that they already have and then … culture it and just kind of show them the direction that they need to go because all of them will have different directions and paths.”

In the program, mentors are big brothers or sisters and their mentees are little brothers or sisters.

Big Sister, Emily Martin, said that young people deserve to feel special.

“It’s really important for the youth in our community to feel that they are chosen and valued and not just disposable or displaced of,” Martin said. “One of the biggest takeaways from having a mentor is you get another perspective on life and advice, morals, instead of just your surrounding environment.”

The organization currently has a waitlist of 25 kids, meaning they’re looking for 25 big brothers or sisters.