Has Bowling Gone to the Dogs?

GOODWILL CENTRAL

HAS BOWLING GONE TO THE

By Pamela Kleibrink Thompson

D GS? V Puppy Jake Foundation and Warrior Lanes Team Up For Veterans In Iowa.

eterans, service dogs, and bowling may not be a natural combination, but all three came together at Warrior Lanes for a good cause. The 16-lane center helped the Puppy Jake Foundation (PJF), a volunteer organization that donates professionally trained service dogs to wounded veterans.

“We find organizations and programs that we are passionate about and get involved,” states Kristy Morse, owner of Warrior Lanes in Waukee, IA. “A family involved in PJF also belonged to our Kids Bowl Free program this past summer. We established a relationship with them and offered a fundraiser opportunity. How could we not?

Deserving veterans and cute puppies—what an awesome combination!”

“Each dog is fostered by a trainer’s family,” explains Morse. “This was a new experience for The Morse family.

everyone involved. Each trainer had pre-event work to do with their dogs to prepare them. The specific lesson they were working on during this event was to push or move an object. Using the shorter ball ramps made this lesson possible.” During this training event, the service dogs learned to bowl.

Held on October 18, 2016 from 6-8pm, the fundraiser for the PJF included eight canine bowlers, 39 human bowlers, and spectators including four other dogs in various stages of training. The dogs wore bowling shoes—protective boots meant to be worn outdoors to protect their paws. Many of the 54

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GOODWILL CENTRAL dogs were wearing them for the first time.

Becky Beach, CEO of PJF in Urbandale, IA, founded the organization in early 2013. “I was aware of the impact a service dog had on a veteran, and I was determined to provide a professionally trained service dog to those that have given so much for our freedom,” stated Beach. “My lab, Jake, was the driving force in the name. We are blessed to have such strong support in our community. It’s important to PJF to spread the mission so that other injured veterans reach out to us for help. The more financial support we receive, the more veterans we are able to help. Each service dog costs approximately $20,000 for two years of training in the

program. Veterans pay just $150 for an application fee.”

PJF got involved with Warrior Lanes through their partnership with Merchants Bonding. Their employees sponsored the event to raise money for PJF. Morse advises other bowling center proprietors considering hosting fundraisers. “Each group has their own unique needs and vision of what they want their event to be. We work with all kinds of groups. Some want

big elaborate functions with big ticket prices to raise thousands of dollars and some need simpler events that are family friendly and affordable. We help each organization custom build a program to meet their needs.”

Morse, who co-owns the 15,600-square-foot center Warrior Lanes with her husband Brad Basart encourages other proprietors to “just reach out! Most organizations don’t think of bowling as an opportunity to fundraise until we tell them!”

Though not a veteran herself, Morse notes she has many customers who are in the military or are retired. Her grandfathers were both veterans. She feels it’s important to help. “At Bowl Expo, we signed an agreement to participate in the Care, Commit, Contribute Bowlers To Veterans Link campaign to raise a minimum of $1,000 by May of 2017. We did a Veteran’s Day event where we donated $1 for each full-price game of bowling purchased on Friday, November 11th. We have a monthly family doubles bowling tournament, and a portion of each entry fee goes towards CCC for BVL and our youth bowler’s scholarship fund. There are coin collection cans at the cash registers.

The list is always growing.”

The fundraiser for the PJF held at Warrior Lanes raised $195, but every little bit helps. “This was a simple event for the first time out,” shared Morse. “We just did a 50/50 fundraiser to test the waters of this particular non-profit and their followers. It went over very well, and we believe we will have more events with them in the future.”

“We did not do anything special to prepare for the dogs. We learned that some dogs were here for work training (those were the dogs that were bowling and wearing vests) and some were here for social training. The social dogs did not have on training vests so we could pet and interact with them. The idea was to have the most normal bowling center environment possible. We did, however, have A LOT of dog hair to vacuum up from our new black carpet and found puppy treats in interesting places after they left. It was all worth it!” ❖ Pamela Kleibrink Thompson lives in Idaho. In addition to writing, she is a career coach and scenario role player for peace officer training.

Pamela worked as a production manager on the Emmy Award-winning animated series The Simpsons, where she bowled regularly with members of the crew. She speaks on career issues at conferences all over the world. You can reach Pamela at PamRecruit@q.com.

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