2015 Bowl for Kids Sake a “Big” success

COLUMBIA, SC – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia raised more than $35,000 at this year’s Bowl For Kids’ Sake held on April 11. This year’s participation featured community members, corporate donors and most importantly, Big and Little matches from the Columbia area, according to President and CEO Cristy Marshall.

This year the local agency’s version of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s signature fundraiser focused heavily on the involvement of “Bigs,” what the program calls their volunteer mentors, and “Littles,” the children in the program.

On Saturday, April 11, more than 15 Bigs and Littles participated throughout the event, enjoying a day of celebration of Big Brothers Big Sisters while spending time together with the community that supports the program.

“I’m so excited about our participation from the community and from our Big-Little Matches,” Marshall said. “Since our program works with one-to-one relationships, you don’t often get to see first-hand the awesome impact that these volunteers have on the children each and every day. The matches had such a great time, and it really inspires you to want to get out and do some great work in our community. ”

BFKS remains the organization’s signature fundraiser and a great source of community support. The money raised by the agency are used to implement community-based and site-based programing by funding volunteer recruitment, background checks for potential volunteers, and support the ongoing one-on-one relationships between adult mentors and Greater Columbia youth in need of positive, committed role models.

The agency’s focus on featuring the importance of the Big-Little relationship when spreading the message of the positive impact of mentoring will continue into next year’s event. “We already have so many ideas for the next Bowl For Kids’ Sake and I’m confident it will be even bigger in 2016.” Marshall said. “The Bigs and Littles with their participation really added an extra level of excitement, and also provided the matches with a great bonding opportunity.”

About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia

The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia is a proud affiliate member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network.

Partnering with parents and guardians, schools, corporations and others in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters carefully pairs children (“Littles”) with screened volunteer mentors (“Bigs”) and monitors and supports them in one-to-one mentoring relationships. For more information or to inquire about becoming a big, please visit www.bbbsgc.org.