LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
Langley Airmen bowled out the competition for the fifth year in a row. They will receive the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America Bowl for Kid’s Sake Military Installation Participation Award for Langley’s outstanding attendance of this year’s event.
Bowl for Kid’s Sake is an annual event for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters. It helped to raise a large portion of the money necessary to keep the program running throughout the year.
With the recent disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the mudslides in the Philippines, the Big Brother/Big Sisters organization in Hampton Roads has found the charitable donations dwindling, but has worked hard to make up for it through events like Bowl for Kid’s Sake.
There were 22 teams from Langley, totaling 80 bowlers, said Timothy Marinelli, the organization’s military liaison for Hampton Roads and an F-117 technical analyst for Air Combat Command. Langley Airmen raised more than 10 percent of the event’s total money raised.
All told the event raised $19,900 in donations approximately $5,000 in corporate sponsorships, totaling just over $24,000. Every dollar of that stays here in Hampton Roads.
Mr. Marinelli attributes the success of Langley’s participation on the effectiveness of the Langley Company Grade Officer’s Council’s help in recruiting bowlers.
Capt. Greg Ready, 1st Medical Group, helped coordinate Langley involvement for the event.
“I thought this would be a good opportunity to get involved in the community and the base at the same time,” said Captain Ready. “Just about every major base organization is represented in the variety of teams, which numbered more than we expected.”
The bowlers came out both in support of Big Brother/Big Sisters and just to enjoy some time with each other.
“It’s just getting out for a few hours and getting to know your coworker,” said Senior Airman Kimberly Petters, 1st Medical Support Squadron. “And it’s also about knowing you’re supporting something great at the same time.”
Like Airman Petters, Tech. Sgt. Michael Hamel didn’t come out because of his love for bowling.
“It shows support for the local community,” he said. “They back up the base, so we back them up.”
Along with the altruism, he agreed with Airman Petter’s enjoyment of spending some off-duty time with the people he worked with.
“I get to see coworkers out of work,” he said, “and I get to do something I don’t get to do that often -- bowling.”