Ability Bowl to raise funds for Saskabilities Swift Current youth
A fun day at the bowling lanes will help to raise funds for Saskabilities Swift Current programs that provide recreation opportunities for individuals experiencing disability.
Teams are already raising funds and registration remains open for more teams to get on board for the 35th Ability Bowl at The Social Bowl bowling alley in Swift Current, April 20.
Saskabilities Swift Current Community Relations Coordinator Jenny Dyck said the event is a long-standing tradition in the community.
“It’s got deep roots in the community,” she mentioned. “The last few months I’ve been out and about chatting with sponsors and community supporters and you don’t even have to explain what it is. It’s just a community event that people recognize.”
The fundraising goal for this year’s Ability Bowl is $85,000 as part of an overall goal of $135,000 for the year. The two key events held during the year to achieve the annual goal are the Ability Bowl in the spring and the Superhero Walk, Wheel, Run in the fall.
“All the dollars raised for both of those events will go towards youth recreational programs offered by us,” she said. “We’ve got Summer Fun, the Social Leisure Youth Program, and Camp Easter Seal. Those are the three programs that your fundraising dollars support.”
Camp Easter Seal is the only fully wheelchair-accessible camp facility in Saskatchewan. It offers a safe, fun and barrier-free experience and campers will participate in extracurricular, recreational, and personal development activities.
The Summer Fun program provides opportunities for social interaction during the summer months and the various activities offer an enjoyable and fun experience. The Social Leisure Youth Program is a year-round activity that makes it possible for participants to gain independence and have interactions in the community while attending social, leisure, recreational and cultural activities.
“They are highly utilized programs and all three of them focus on youth experiencing disability,” she noted. “They offer recreational, social, and cultural opportunities within the community and surrounding areas. Every dollar raised is helping to improve the quality of life of the youth experiencing disability in our community.”
The goal is to have 25 to 30 teams participate in the 2024 Ability Bowl, but it will be great if this goal can be exceeded.
“Obviously, we’re not going to turn anyone away,” she said. “There are four shifts throughout the day and they’ll come to join us just for fun and bowling. All participants are eligible to win prizes for top fundraisers. And then, of course, everyone that’s participating that day are welcomed to our post-event banquet at the Living Sky Casino.”
The bowling fun will start at 8:30 a.m. on April 20 and it will continue until around 4:30 p.m. Teams will be assigned to different shifts taking place during the day. They are encouraged to wear
outfits that reflect their team and the Agribowl theme of the event.
“People enjoy having that theme,” she noted. “Last year it was decided that Agribowl would be the ongoing theme for Ability Bowl for years to come. We just felt that it really speaks to our community. The agricultural industry does so much for our community and we really wanted to highlight that with our event.”
The fun will continue in the evening when the banquet takes place at the Living Sky Casino to conclude the event.
“It’s a lovely wrap up to an event and it’s essentially a thank you to our fundraisers, our teams, and our sponsors that have supported us reaching that goal,” she said. “Dinner will be provided
and we will do the prize-giving ceremony. Then we have Surround Sound Music coming to offer us their musical talent for the remainder of the evening. All participants of Ability Bowl will automatically get tickets for their teams, but if other community members want to join us and support our event, we will have tickets available.”
A variety of prizes are up for grabs at Ability Bowl with the generous help of many sponsors. There are different sponsorship levels and businesses have been very supportive.
“This year, just like any other past year, we’ve garnered a lot of support from a lot of local businesses,” she said. “We’re so incredibly grateful to all of the businesses that offer up prizes. They know
that it’s an incentive to our team fundraisers, and they know that it just goes towards us reaching that fundraising goal.”
The grand prize for the top individual fundraiser at Ability Bowl will be a 58-inch UHD 4K television sponsored by Full Line Ag. The top 10 individual fundraisers will quality for prizes as well as the top fundraising team. There will also be a prize for best costume as well as various other prizes for teams during the fun bowl portion of each bowling shift.
Dyck appreciates the ongoing support of Teagan and Garnet Gader of The Social Bowl for the event and for continuing to partner with Saskabilities.
“They are always game to allow us to use their facility for our fundraisers,” Dyck said. “They’re huge supporters of our organization and we’re very grateful to have them on board with us each year.”
Team registrations for Ability Bowl can take place until the date of the event, but signing up sooner will allow more time to do fundraising. The response has already been good and over 20 teams are signed up.
“We are super excited this year to have a number of new teams signing up to bowl with us,” she said. “We’ve had a number of community businesses throw in teams and we are just really encouraged to see that enthusiasm and participation.”
For more information, to register a team or to donate, go to the Ability Bowl website at www.abilitybowl.ca