February 6, 2015
Story and photo by Kevin Berger, Courtesy of Westlock News
WESTLOCK — An annual month-long fundraiser at the Westlock Bowl has brought in the “phenomenal total” of $32,825 for the Barrhead Community Cancer Centre.
Organizer Carolyn Kohlsmith delivered the good news at a special “pink party” at the Westlock Bowl recently, noting that the four-year fundraising total for the annual Bowl for Cancer is now $105,060.
Bowl for Cancer ran throughout January, with league and youth bowlers — as well as some business and municipal teams — collecting pledges throughout the month. Kohlsmith noted that some also start collecting pledges in December.
Kohlsmith said the majority of pledges given to the event were in the amount of $20.
“When you consider the phenomenal total, you then have to realize the overwhelming amount of dedication and effort shown by you guys,” she told the bowlers.
There were also two special nights designated over the previous two weekends for team events, she indicated. The team bowling events brought in $18,060 alone.
Westlock County was the top fundraiser from those events with $5,250, which included some donations from the County of Barrhead council.
As well, the three local schools in Westlock were able to bring in $3,304 by collecting spare change throughout the month.
The funds raised over the past three years of the event — over $71,000 — were previously sent on to the Canadian Cancer Society, said Kohlsmith. In each of those years, Westlock Bowl was the No. 1 fundraising bowling centre in all of Canada.
“We’re very proud of that,” she told the bowlers at the pink party. “And most of you guys should be, because most of you helped us do that.”
Kohlsmith said she and her husband Garth discussed changing the focus of their biggest fundraiser at the beginning of the year.
She noted that, in the fall of 2013, they held a Mustache Movember fundraiser and they raised just over $400 for the Alberta Cancer Foundation. They got such an appreciative response that they decided their bigger fundraiser in January should go to the foundation as well.
After some discussion, it was determined that all the funds raised by the event should go to the Barrhead Community Cancer Centre, which is financially supported by the Alberta Cancer Foundation. It will go towards general improvements in patient care.
“I’m very confident in saying that it was a very good decision,” said Kohlsmith.
Kohlsmith noted the Barrhead Community Cancer Centre is currently squeezed into two “closet-sized rooms” at the Barrhead Healthcare Centre. She expressed a hope that this money may help in some way to getting them into a bigger space, though the final decision rests with Alberta Health Services.
Amber Williams of the Alberta Cancer Foundation said the amount raised was just amazing, noting that she recognizes this fundraiser is a lot of work.
Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Maureen Kubinec, who brought congratulations on behalf of the province, said that cancer is something that has touched everyone’s life at one time or another.
“What you do for volunteerism is an example for the rest of the province,” she said. “I just want to tell you how incredibly proud I am.”
When asked if this was her last fundraiser, Kohlsmith said she wasn’t sure, noting that she “might have to take a little break.”
Kohlsmith stressed that while she came up with the idea for the event, the success of the Bowl for Cancer represents the efforts of many volunteers and the community itself.
