Bowled Over is Back!

Bowled Over is coming back! Mark your calendars and Save the Date please.  We are inviting the community to join us March 31, 2019 for our Annual Edna Bernier Memorial “Bowled Over” event to support seniors in need, held at Old Mountain Lanes, Kingstown Road, Wakefield, RI.   

This is SRIV’s annual fundraiser event to support transportation and food delivery services for seniors in need including our Veterans across the southern third of RI. 

The event is a family friendly favorite for grandparents, parents, children, business owners/leaders and employees alike!  The day features bowling with shoe rental from noon to 3 free for bowlers on business sponsored lanes.  Refreshments which includes a light lunch: sandwiches, chips, snacks and brownies!  Bowlers who help to raise funds for SRIV are also entered into free giveaways that happen all throughout the day—every 10 to 15 minutes gift cards and more are won by fundraising bowlers!  Also available are 14 wonderful baskets with various themes that ticket purchasers can win.  Baskets are a beach theme with a state beach pass, gardening, foods, chocolates, dog friendly, kids’ games, wines, craft beer and so much more!  Anyone can purchase raffle tickets at $2 each or 20 for $20.  Call SRIV today to get your tickets now!  You do not need to be present to win.

The individual bowler fee is $20 per person, which includes bowling between noon and 3 p.m.; (limited lane availability/first come –first served).  No more than 8 bowlers per lane.  Also included with the participant cost is shoe rental, refreshments and a great day of fun and entertainment. (Raffle tickets available for purchase)

An incentive for bowlers to win a gift card or two and to help raise critical support funding for our senior services is our pledge drive.  Bowlers who collect pledges that are turned in no later than noon on Sunday, March 31 at the Bowler registration/sign in table will be eligible for gift card giveaways that will happen every 10 to 15 minutes throughout the day.  The top pledge raiser will win $100 cash!  You must turn in your collected donations by noon on the day of the event to be eligible.  Donors should make checks payable to SRIV or Southern Rhode Island Volunteers.  All donations are 100% tax deductible as allowed by law. 

(Bowlers do not have to collect pledges to participate in bowling). 

All funds raised for this event support SRIV’s Independent Aging Program Services. The services to be supported are transportation to medical appointments, grocery stores and food pantries for seniors without other resources, Veterans and mildly disabled adults 50 or older (you must be able to ambulate into and out of a vehicle on your own).  SRIV’s transportation is a key resource for our older citizens across Southern Rhode Island.  Also supported is our food delivery service to promote proper nutrition.  SRIV’s team delivers prepared meals (meals on wheels) from various county sites, food from local food pantries and grocery stores to help ensure proper nutrition and healthy aging for our mature citizens.  SRIV’s volunteers also provide visitation and companionship for isolated and frail seniors in our rural communities. 

Here is how SRIV, our volunteers and staff, and our donors made a difference for hundreds in 12 months from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018:

·         MEALS

o   Over 11,682 meals were prepared by the Meals on Wheels Caterer were delivered by SRIV to 65 homebound seniors in South Kingstown and Narragansett alone!

o   Over 100 additional seniors received Meals on Wheels as part of our partnerships and expansion efforts in Charlestown, Richmond/Hopkinton, Westerly, Jamestown, North Kingstown and even Foster.

o   2,640 bags of groceries (that’s 39,600 lbs. of food!) were delivered by SRIV to 55 homebound seniors once a month from two local food pantries.  (SRIV transported individual seniors to 5 food pantries throughout the year).

·         TRANSPORTATION

o   3,024 hours of weekly grocery shopping assistance was provided to local seniors.

o   435 rides to healthcare provider appointments for 212 homebound seniors without transportation to help them age as healthily as possible were completed by SRIV.

·         VISITATION

o   1,288 companion visits happened for over 25 local seniors facing isolation; more than 2,500 hours were spent with our most isolated seniors.

·         MAINTENANCE

o   20 seniors were provided with minor home repair, yard clean ups and snow removal.

SRIV continues to provide these vital services because of the generous support of donors like you!  Without partnerships that include coordinators, volunteers, time and funding, our seniors could not depend on this assistance.  SRIV receives no state funding except for a $2,000 grant from one state senator.  These critical supports help our aging neighbors, including elderly relatives of many of us who desire to age in place, Veterans who have served us all, and neighbors without family/friends in the region to live their lives in the homes they love while feeling safe, supported, independent and with dignity because of a little helping hand!  This is not a hand-out but a hand-up!  This is respect, honor and love for others!  Won’t you join us at whatever level you can—be it a volunteer, bowler, sponsor or donor!  Thank you for your consideration!  

To participate, please contact SRIV at 401-552-7661.