Trending
By John Hartsock
For the past five years, since Jim and Heather Little started the non-profit back in 2011, the Mountain Lion Backpack Program has provided nutritious weekend meals for elementary school-age children in kindergarten through grade six in the Altoona Area School District.
The annual cost to help the Mountain Lion Backpack Program provide meals for all the children who need them is $200,000, and events like the program’s third annual bowling fundraiser, which has now expanded to involve three area bowling houses, are among the ways that the community helps to defray that cost and support the program throughout the year.
This year’s bowling fundraiser will be held on Sunday, Oct. 16 from 1 to 4 p.m., and the goal is raise a total of $30,000 for the Backpack Program by enrolling a total of 440 bowlers for the event on 88 lanes at three establishments – Holiday Bowl, the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center, and Splinters Lanes.
“This year, we’re reaching for the stars,” said Lisa Drzal, who is spearheading the bowling fundraiser. “I think we can get all 88 teams together if everybody just huddles up and gets it done.”
The community support since the inception of the bowling event has been admirable. In the first year, back in 2014, a total of 10 teams were involved at a charge of $100 per bowler at Holiday Bowl, and $7,000 was raised, with area businesses contributing heavily.
Last year, 30 teams were involved at the Holiday Bowl and the event raised almost $17,000.
This year, the event is being expanded to allow Holiday Bowl, the Pleasant Valley Rec Center, and Splinters Lanes to host, and it has become more budget-friendly for participants. The goal is to get teams of five people on each of the lanes in the three establishments involved in the event, with individuals having a choice of paying either $100 at Holiday Bowl, $50 at the Pleasant Valley Rec Center, or $25 at Splinters Lanes.
In addition to the entry fee, each team of bowlers is being asked to bring a gift to be auctioned off at a raffle to raise more money for the Mountain Lion Backpack Program.
“A lot of people had told me in the past that they would bowl if it wasn’t so expensive, so this year, we opened it up to two more bowling houses in the community, so that it works better for everybody’s budget,” Drzal said. “People who don’t want to pay $100 to bowl at Holiday Bowl can pay $50 to bowl at the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center, or $25 to bowl at Splinters. My hope is to fill up all three bowling alleys.”
The cost includes three games of bowling, shoe rental, lunch and refreshments. The event is open to bowlers of all ages.
Sheetz Inc. will be providing the lunches for participants this year at all three bowling alleys. Don Delozier of Prime Sirloin Buffet and the U.S. Hotel, who had provided the lunches for this event in both of the past two years, will be providing appetizers this year.
According to Ashley Gay, the director of the Mountain Lion Backpack Program, during the last school year, the program expanded to serve students in all eight elementary schools in the Altoona Area School District. A total of 286,800 meals – including two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners and two snacks – were served to a total of 1400 students each weekend last year. The program spans 32 weekends annually, from October through May.
Volunteers pack the meals into backpacks each Thursday evening throughout the school year, and the meals are delivered to the schools each Friday to provide the students with weekend sustenance throughout the school term.
“The bowling fundraiser has been a godsend to our program,” Gay said. “And the fact that the organizers are looking to expand to three alleys and 88 teams is amazing. It’s really a testament to the support that our program has received within the community.”
The owners and proprietors of the area bowling alleys are glad to assist with the noble cause.
“Anything that helps our community, I am for,” said Holiday Bowl manager Scott Zimmer, whose establishment will also host a bowling event this Saturday to raise funds to combat hydrocephalus, a brain condition that affects one in 500 infants and which requires brain surgery. “I think the Backpack fundraiser is a great idea, and spreading it around to all three (bowling alleys) is good for the community.”
Jean Montgomery, who, along with her brother, Robert DiVentura, co-owns the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center, is pleased to become one of the bowling fundraiser’s hosts this fall.
“Bowling is a great way to have a fundraiser,” she said. “Everybody can do it, kids and adults. (The Backpack Program) is a wonderful program, and we enjoy doing stuff like this because we want to help the community and the kids as much as possible.”