Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County hit the field to celebrate the sports, teams, athletes, and coaches who inspire us at Bowl for Kids’ Sake 2025 – Game Day. 250 bowlers visited Parkway Lanes in Fond du Lac between February 28 and March 1 to take part in our largest annual fundraiser. This year’s event knocked it out of the park with entertainment, food, drinks, costume contests, prizes, and fun. Through everyone’s fundraising efforts, we raised over $100,000 to support local children with powerful mentoring relationships!
This year’s fundraiser coincided with The Big Draft, a national volunteer recruitment effort between BBBS of America and the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative. With the 2025 NFL Draft being held in Green Bay, 14 Wisconsin BBBS agencies teamed up to recruit 700 volunteer mentors across the state from February 10 to April 27. A sports-themed Bowl for Kids’ Sake provided the perfect launching pad for the campaign.
Bowl for Kids’ Sake weekend kicked off on Friday night as DJ Marty Schibbelhut played everyone’s favorite hits. The Milwaukee Brewers Famous Racing Sausages® made an appearance to greet bowlers and snap some selfies. During Saturday’s match shift, 25 Bigs and Littles hit the lanes for bowling, face painting, root beer floats from A&W, selfies with Weaver from the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders, and prizes from Verve, a Credit Union.
Whether they dressed as a beloved Wisconsin sports team or put on the jersey of their favorite player, bowlers showed up in their game day gear to compete in the costume contests. The top costume from each bowling shift got to take home their very own referee bowling pin trophy and a cash prize. Costume contest winners included ensembles showing love to Frozen Tundra Man, A League of Their Own, the Green Bay Packers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and other local teams.
The costume contest wasn’t the only opportunity for bowlers to win big. Top fundraisers won gift certificates to some of our favorite local spots and bowlers from every shift had the opportunity to participate in 50/50 raffles.
Caribou Coffee generously donated coffee for our Saturday morning bowlers—Grande Cheese Company. They were our largest fundraisers of the weekend, filling the lanes with 82 bowlers and even donating their very own cheese for all the pizzas ordered during their shift. Not only did Grande associates raise just over $18,000, but the company rounded up to make a matching donation of $19,000. In total, Grande gifted BBBS with $37,000 in support of local youth! Michels Corporation was our second largest fundraiser, bringing 14 bowlers to the event and raising $9,700!
Throughout the weekend, Parkway Lanes offered two sports-inspired beverages for bowlers including a simple rum and coke dubbed the Kickoff Classic as well as a sweeter option made with Malibu, peach schnapps, orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine called the Touchdown Twist. On top of all the incredible bowlers fundraising individually, Parkway Lanes donated $1 for every specialty drink, $1 for every order of garlic bread, and $2 for every pizza sold throughout the event for an additional $362. By the end of the weekend, our community helped us raise over $100,000 to support BBBS!
Bowl for Kids’ Sake is a yearly fundraiser benefitting BBBS. This year’s planning committee was co-chaired by Amy Docter of BBBS and Christina Jones of Grande Cheese Company.
Thank you to the all-star sponsors who made this event possible: [PLATINUM] 95 & 96-1 The Rock | Bristol Morgan Bank | BrownBoots Interactive, Inc. | FVSBank | Grande Cheese Company | Hopper’s Screen Printing + Embroidery | Integrity Saw & Tool, Inc. | Taco Bell [GOLD] Excel Engineering, Inc. | Michels Corporation | Van Horn Automotive [SILVER] Alliance Laundry Systems | Bank First | CLA | Fond du Lac Credit Union | Fond du Lac Noon Kiwanis | J.F. Ahern Company | Luedtke Lumber, Inc. | Sabel Mechanical LLC | SSM Health [LANE] A&W Restaurant | Adashun Jones Real Estate | Ahern Gross Plumbing | Air Tech Heating | Ala Roma Pizzeria & Pub | Atlas Molded Products | Backyard Grill & Bar | Be’s Refreshments | Bob’s Pizza | C.D. Smith Construction | Capelle Bros. & Diedrich, Inc. | Caribou Coffee | Club Car Wash | The Diner | Eaton’s Fresh Pizza | Elite Wealth Planners, LLC | Ellison Electric Supply, Inc. | Fat Joe’s Burgers and Brew | Flood Homes, Inc. | Fond du Lac Cyclery | Fond du Lac Noon Optimists | Fond du Lac Police Benevolent Association | Gilles Frozen Custard | Gino’s Italian Restaurant | The Hive | Holiday Automotive | Horicon Bank | Hotel Retlaw | iAutomation | Knuth Brewing Company | Kwik Trip | Lakeside Wealth Management, LLC | LEB Insurance | M&M Printing | Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders | Manowske Welding Corp | McDonald’s | New Directions Chiropractic | Odyssey Cinemas & Social Fond du Lac 8 | Parkway Lanes | Quest Interiors | Rocky Rococo | Schmitty’s Oar House | Spoonlickers | Subway | Sully’s Tavern of Fond du Lac | Summit Automotive | T.T.I., Inc. | Uecker-Witt Funeral Home | Verve, a Credit Union | Vossekuil Real Estate | Waas Boring & Cable Inc. | Wabash National Corporation | Wrightway Home Improvements
BBBS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving Fond du Lac County and northern Dodge County. The agency assists children with social, emotional, and character development through 1:1 (one-to-one) and 1:1+ (one-to-one plus) mentoring opportunities in community-based, site-based, and school-based settings. Youth ages 6 and up can enroll in the program through parent or guardian referral. Volunteers ages 16 and up who pass a background check and have a valid driver’s license and auto insurance can be mentors. Visit bbbsfdl.org or call (920) 922-8200 to learn more.
