Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area will hold one of it's biggest fundraising events of the year on March 11th in Airdrie.  

David Case, Communications and Marketing Specialist with Big Brothers Big Sisters says this is the third year for Bowl For Kids Sake in Airdrie.

"It's a peer to peer fundraisers.  We're asking people to register a team of family, friends, co-workers and to go out and fundraise and all of the money, every dollar, goes to support the mentoring program in the community."

Case explains that mentoring is one of the most important things Big Brother Big Sisters does and says they're always looking for mentors for kids in Airdrie.  

"We're all about one to one mentoring, that's connecting a caring adult with a child or youth who's facing adversity in their life, be it at home, be it at school or just that they're in need of a friend and a little bit of guidance."

Case says adversity can take many forms, from financial difficulty in the home to being bullied at school, to being a new Canadian who is trying to fit in at school.

" In Airdrie, we have over 120 kids that we served in the 2017 calendar year.  That's 124 volunteers.  We also had 70 teen mentors, that's young kids, junior high or high school kids who have been connected with elementary students to mentor them on a one to one basis once a week.  We'be got a thriving program in the community with a lot of great kids and a lot of really great mentors."

Case says that sometimes people think they're too busy to mentor kids.  He says if you have the passion and the patience to be a mentor, they'll find something that fits your schedule. 

"I'd say anybody can be a mentor.  We have a number of different programs to fit different schedules.  We've got in-school programs, so the same time every week.  We've got the community-based programs which are sort of see each other once a week for a couple of hours.  We connect matches based on their interests, so kids that are big into sports are being connected with mentors who are also big into sports."

Case says the group is very proud to have Olympic curling gold medallist John Morris serving as a mentor in Calgary.  

The Bowl For Kids Sake is set for Sunday, March 11th at Shamrock Lanes in Airdrie. Last year the event raised $11,500 and Case says they're looking to surpass that number in 2018.  You can select either Session One from 10:00 am to noon or Session Two from noon to 2:00 pm.  The theme this year is "Glow With the Flow" and features neon bowling so Case says to wear something that looks good in black light.

The day will feature bowling games and plenty of prizes donated by local sponsors.You can register your team or get more information on the event here

Air 106.1 is proud to be a media sponsor for Bowl For Kids Sake in Airdrie.  

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