Pins were racked nonstop at Kachemak Bowl on Saturday, where packed lanes of young and old bowled for the “Bowl for Kids Sake” event, a fundraiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Homer program.

More than 100 participants and 16 teams attended the event to raise a goal of $9,000 for the Homer program. Aside from individual donations, 54 Homer businesses donated items for the raffle. Wells Fargo, GCI, First National Bank of Alaska, and Petro Express also made corporate donations to the event.

The “Bowl for Kids Sake” event is one of two fundraisers the Homer Chapter of BBBS puts on annually. The Homer program raises half of the program’s money through local donations and the other half from the BBBS of Alaska. The money raised goes to help pay for the recruitment of volunteers and children, background checks on volunteers, publicity and advertising, matching activities, meetings with parents, children, and volunteers, and support of pairs. BBBS of Homer has two part-time paid staff members who handle 100-plus volunteers and children each year.

BBBS of Homer currently has 45 matches, eight of whom are high school students. The program has a number of little brothers and sisters on its waiting list so the need for more volunteers is never-ending, says program specialist Jenny Martin.

Other ways to help the program it to donate adult and children’s clothing to a red BBBS donation bin located in the parking lot of Safeway and Ulmer’s. BBBS of Homer raises $6,000 a year on average from clothing donations, says Community Director Susan Kern.

To learn more about the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, sign up to volunteer, or enrol your child, go to www.BBBSAK.org or call 235-8391.

There are no deadlines on volunteering or enrolments.