More than 100 “Bigs” (adult mentors) and “Littles” (the children they mentor) from across Connecticut will take to the alleys at Spare Time Lanes in Vernon on Saturday, March 25 to celebrate Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake, an event held every year since the late 1970s by Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters – Connecticut’s premier youth mentoring organization.

This year, the presenting sponsor of Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake is Key Hyundai of Vernon. Located at 21 Hartford Turnpike, the Key Hyundai’s sales/service facility happens to be right up the road from where Nutmeg’s bowling event is scheduled to take place. The co-owner of Key Hyundai is West Hartford resident Jill Merriam Dulitsky, best-known to followers of local automotive advertising as “the dealer for the people.”

“I was a Big Sister with Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters not too long ago,” Jill says. “I remember how much fun my Little Sister and I had at Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake, and just how much we always looked forward to it. Making sure the event continues is definitely worth the expense. Besides being a terrific bonding experience for the ‘Bigs’ and ‘Littles’ attending, it’s also an excellent vehicle for communicating how beneficial mentoring is for children, their families and communities. And if there’s anybody who knows about excellent vehicles, it’s me.”

At Nutmeg, the organizing  force behind Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake is Bigs Ignite, an affinity group made up of current and former Big Brothers and Big Sisters. For months, Bigs Ignite has been planning and overseeing all aspects of the late March bowling event. They’ve even added a fundraising element to it.

“We envision Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake not just as an enjoyable activity for a late March Saturday,” said Alexa Megna, an officer of Bigs Ignite. “Inspired by former Big Sister Jill Dulitsky’s generosity, we see it as the perfect opportunity to also raise the funds needed to transition kids off Nutmeg’s waiting list and into match relationships that will transform their lives for the better. We know such transformations are possible. ‘Bigs’, like me, have seen it happen with our own matches.”

To turn their fundraising plans from concept to reality, Bigs Ignite created an online giving campaign and is asking friends, family members, business associates and anyone who wants the best for deserving children to visit a specially created website and support their March 25 Bowl-for-Kids’-Sake efforts.

“It costs Nutmeg $2,500 to create and support a match,” said Megna. “And right now there are more than 300 kids on Nutmeg’s waiting list across the state. It’s our hope we can move as many as these kids as possible into results-producing matches, just like the one I’m now experiencing with my totally amazing Little Brother Tristen.”

Want to help Big Sisters and Big Brothers raise funds to take children off the waiting list?! Visit: https://www.crowdrise.com/BBBSBowlforKidsSake2017