Bowl a strike for charity

Balls are rolling and pins are falling in the name of charity in this year's Bowl for Kid's Sake. The event, which is already underway, is shaping up to be one of the most successful in the event's history. \nBowl for Kid's Sake is one of the largest fund-raisers for Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, contributing to one-third of their yearly operating budget. \n"It's astonishing to me that the students alone have raised this much already," said Community Bowl Coordinator Tom Hargis. "The number is just incredible."\nThe event is broken up into two parts -- the IU Bowl for students and the Community Bowl, which is for the rest of the teams participating in the event. The IU Bowl began Wednesday at Suburban Lanes, 2634 N. Walnut St. The Community Bowl will begin Saturday and run through Sunday at the same location.\nThe idea for this type of fund-raiser was formed from the national headquarters for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and has been running for 18 years now. Locally, the event has had two aspects for the last eight years. But this year's event has become more integrated with all students. The basketball team has donated a signed basketball and part of the floor from Assembly Hall. Also, more groups have become involved and donations are given from the community, such as canned goods and gift certificates.\n"For awhile, it was more traditionally greek houses involved," Hargis said. "But this year we have a lot of student groups and students from residence halls involved."\nAnd the students have made quite an impact so far, raising around $13,000 after the first day. Wednesday night also produced a first in the event's history, as Apparel Merchandising, a student group, was the top fund-raiser.\nWith such a successful start, many are hopeful the rest of the week will produce high results.\n"We're hopeful that we can break our previous record of $23,000," said senior Lindsay Eichelman. \nThese high hopes are riding upon the increased growth of the organization on a national level, which helped lead to the increased goals of the event. Locally, the group has grown by 48 percent in their service ratio over the last year, Hargis said. \nThe event helps Big Brothers Big Sisters provide the organization with a large portion of their yearly operating budget, but it also helps keep people involved with the program.\n"It's such an amazing program," said junior Erica Bieterman. "It's important because these kids will be our future. They need someone to help brighten their day. They need a friend"