Bowl for Kids’ Sake helps BBBS roll toward success By JEFFREY JACKSON jjackson@owatonna.com OWATONNA — When faculty and staff from the Owatonna school district gathered on a Friday afternoon in mid-April last year at Spare Time Entertainment to participate in Bowl for Kids’ Sake — the annual fund-raiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota — they had a couple of goals in mind. They wanted to bring in more money than they did the previous year, and they definitely wanted to bring in more money than their counterparts in Faribault.
Nolan Erpelding of Hopkins, Minnesota, tries to pick up a spare in his first frame of bowling while his brother, Everett, watches Saturday morning, April 13, 2019, as part of the Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser. The boys were guests of their uncle, Dr. Brian Bunkers of Mayo Health System — Owatonna. Mayo brought a large group Saturday morning, filling all the lanes but two at SpareTime Entertainment. (People’s Press file photo)
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well. BBBS of Southern Minnesota had set for itself a goal of raising $75,000 to help with its mentoring programs.
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Not only did BBBS hit that goal, the organization surpassed it, raising more than $81,000 — close to $82,000 — through the two Bowl for Kids’ Sake events.
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The previous year, 2018, the Owatonna faculty and staff raised $6,900, and last year the Faribault educators brought in $6,200. Last year, the Owatonna educators easily met both of their goals, raising $14,300.
That is the goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota — often simply known as BBBS — when they are trying to match a volunteer mentor to a child who needs the support of a caring adult.
“How crazy is that?” said Michelle Redman, executive director of the Owatonna-based Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota at the time. “We didn’t have words, we were so excited.”
“It’s so very important to make that perfect match,” Redman has said.
The educators weren’t alone in not only meeting, but surpassing their goal. The organization as a whole surpassed its goal as
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But to understand why that is so important and to understand further the significance of the success that the BBBS has had here, you need to take a step back.
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