For the third year, Learners Without Limits will hold its annual bowling fundraiser to benefit Yelm children and families.
The event will take place from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16 at Prairie Lanes in Yelm.
“Learners Without Limits goes directly to our Yelm Community School students and families,” Learners Without Limits’ Sophia Struna said. “We run several programs throughout the school year that we have to raise funds for. One of our largest events is our holiday meal programs, in which we provide meals to our YCS families in need, providing 200 meals in November and 200 in December.”
The bowling fundraiser is Learners Without Limits’ first big fundraising event of the school year. Participants can expect 24 one-hour matches throughout the evening with friendly competition and hopefully lots of strikes. Registration for lanes is currently open at https://tinyurl.com/2s3dxn65.
“What is exciting about annual events is we see some people who attend every year and look forward to participating, and we also have lots of new faces who come to join in for an evening or specifically to give back to LWL because they see the impact it has on our local kids and schools,” Struna said.
The fundraiser has a place for individuals who want to bowl to pay online before the event, but they can also pay to bowl at the door. Teams will be made up of four individuals, and the cost is $25 per person, which covers the ball, shoes and an hour of bowling. There will be three sessions to bowl, starting at 3:15 p.m., and the last session will be at 6:15 p.m. There will be a trophy for the highest-scoring team for each session, and the grand prize for the overall highest-scoring team will be announced after the event on social media. There will also be raffle tickets for $1 and a variety of prizes, including gift cards to local restaurants.
“Friendly competition is very encouraged, and trophies for the highest-scoring team from each of the three sessions will be awarded,” Struna said. “The overall grand champion will be the reigning champs until next year’s fundraiser, so there will be a chance to dethrone or be a reigning champ. If you are signing up a team to bowl, having a friend leading an opposing team is a great way to have a little bit of friendly competition.”
According to Struna, Learners Without Limits is part of the non-profit organization Bounty For Families, which oversees programs and events around Yelm. This includes the Yelm Farmers Market, the Community Garden, the Power of Produce Club and more.
“BFF’s goal is to provide access to programs to educate and break down barriers between people in need and their right to basic needs,” Struna said. “LWL is a branch under BFF that focuses on the needs of our students and schools in the community.”
Learners Without Limits’ goal is to reduce the obstacles that keep kids from succeeding in school and as a person.
“We work with Yelm Community Schools as a fiscal agent to provide tools to move past socioeconomic barriers and make sure every kid has their basic needs met,” Struna said. “While schools can provide lessons and a place to go every day, we know that kids exist outside of a classroom, and what happens outside of school has a direct impact on what happens when they are at their desk.”
Struna added that attendance can be a huge deterrent to a child’s success in their academic career. The group ensures these students have warm clothes, food, school supplies or anything of that nature.
“We can help that child make it up one more step on their path to graduation in correlation with the district’s Graduate Yelm program and goals,” Struna said. “Because we rely on the ability to use donations or buy the items a child might need, fundraisers are a huge part of Learners Without Limits. We wouldn’t exist without them as a non-profit organization.”
Learners Without Limits also accepts donations of anything from clothing, hygiene products, laundry products, school supplies, and more.
“If we don’t have something on hand that a kid needs, we use our funds raised and donated to buy these items for students,” Struna said.
The organization also hosts an annual Learners Without Limits Annual 5K, which will be held on May 8. Last year’s 5K raised $10,000. Struna said the event gets community members, regardless of age, outside running, walking and connecting.
The upcoming bowling fundraiser is open to all.
“By choosing to bowl with us during this time, you are directly supporting our students and schools, which is a direct way to make a difference and a really powerful notion,” Struna said.
Those looking to help Learners Without Limits further can donate through its website at https://bountyforfamilies.org/learners-without-limits/. Those interested in volunteering can contact organizers at yelmlearnerswithoutlimits@gmail.com.
