The annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake, now in its 25th year, is a fundraiser for Heart of Iowa Big Brothers Big Sisters. The Marshalltown-based organization pairs teens and adults “bigs” with youths “littles” in need of mentoring.

Executive Director Brookelyn Schlawin noted that bowling is set for March 6 from 7 to 9 p.m. with three lanes left to reserve; March 7 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. with three lanes left; March 7 from 7 to 9 p.m. with no available lanes left; March 13 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. with two lanes left; March 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. with two lanes left; and March 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. with three lanes left, all to take place at Wayward Social.

“We’re doing an Olympics theme this year,” she said. “We are actually borrowing one of the wrestling team’s podiums and we’re handing out gold medals for everybody — so we’ll have a little picture area.”

New this year is a glow stick sale, costing one dollar per stick. A 50/50 raffle will take place too (bring some extra cash for a chance to take home half the pot).

“Then at each of our sessions, we’re going to be highlighting our biggest donor, so we’re calling them the ‘gold medal fundraiser’ of this session,” Schlawin noted. “We’ll have some giveaway items for the largest donation, and then we’re doing a turkey bowler. So if you bowl three strikes in a row, you can enter a raffle, and you will either get, depending on the session, a gift card or a real frozen turkey. And then we’re doing a little trivia challenge: Olympics-themed questions, Iowa Olympics, Winter Olympics, things like that. So whoever gets the most of our trivia will also get a little giveaway item.”

The goal is to bring in $20,000 from this event. Each bowler must raise a minimum of $60 to participate. A team consists of four to six people for two hours of bowling. People are welcome to dress up for the evening, such as in USA colors or tying in with a favorite sport.

The registration deadline is March 5. Bowling teams represent a wide variety of the population.

“Our bowlers are businesses and personal donors. All of our board members have a team that comes to join,” she noted. “There’s a handful of our bigs who come and bring some of their friends. Our other ones are kind of team building experiences for our local businesses. They will take the afternoon off work, go eat as a team, and then come and bowl with us. So it’s a whole event for the business too, so they can have just some time to get together and have fun with their coworkers, but also to give back at the same time…A couple of people bring their whole family for it.”

Money raised stays local for kids’ activities and family resources such as appliances. BBBS made 188 matches in 2025 (adding about 20 matches each year). Its school-based program is in the Marshalltown School District, West Marshall and BCLUW.

“We have 110 active matches right now plus 66 littles waiting to be matched,” she said.

You must be 16 or older to be a school-based program mentor and 18 or older to be a community-based program mentor. Those interested in becoming mentors must fill out an application and undergo a background check. Littles vary in age from 6-18.

To register for Bowl For Kids’ Sake, visit: www.heartofiowabigs.org/bfks or call 641-753-6370 or email director@heartofiowabigs.org. Donations can be made in-person at the office or mailed to:

Heart of Iowa Big Brothers Big Sisters, 31 S. 1st Street, Marshalltown, IA, 50158.