What may well be the final Bowl for Kids’ Sake in support of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Pembina Valley took place in Winkler last week.
Once the mentoring agency’s biggest fundraiser of the year, drawing dozens of sponsored teams and raising tens of thousands of dollars annually, this year’s Bowl for Kids saw just a handful of corporate teams take to the lanes at VB’s Entertainment Center March 19.
“This year is our 50th anniversary so I was really hoping that Bowl for Kids would be maybe what it has been in the past,” said executive director Jenelle Neufeld. “However, I think since the pandemic … it’s just been a slow decline every year.”
After a few years of trying unsuccessfully to breathe life back into the bowl-a-thon, the agency has decided it’s time to focus its efforts on other fundraising campaigns.
“We’re obviously very thankful for the many, many years that Bowl for Kids was such a huge success and a huge fundraiser for our organization, but I think, you know, onward and upwards,” Neufeld said. “It’s a lot of pressure to put on one specific event. The landscape has changed and we need to change.”
“It was our flagship fundraiser for so many years,” noted board president Jered Hildebrand. “You don’t want to give up on something that treated us so well in the past, but, at the same time, if the hints are there that it’s time for a change, we are very excited to find new opportunities to fundraise and to get the community involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters.”
They have already launched a few new fundraising initiatives, including monthly trivia nights at the Heritage Farms Brewing Tap Room in Winkler and, soon, the Morden Legion as well as a weekly Chase the Ace at the Legion. They’ll also be continuing with their summer slo-pitch tournament and have a few special events in the works to coincide with the 50th anniversary.
They’ve also launched a new sponsorship package for corporate supporters dubbed “50 Doors” which allows for various levels of sponsorship encompassing multiple fundraising capaigns throughout the year.
Whatever the event, getting out and meeting with supporters is always a highlight for Neufeld.
“I often am working alone and these are the events that really remind me and bring me back to, okay, the community is behind us,” she said. “We’re doing this for the right reasons … it really warms my heart to see everybody out here supporting us … I think it’s really amazing that the six teams that are here today have always supported us.”
While it may not have reached the financial heights of year’s past, Bowl for Kids’ Sake 2026 still served as a valuable community-building opportunity.
“All of these people came out for us as an organization,” Neufeld said. “There’s no price on that.”
The past year has been a financial challenge for the agency, which had to give up the offices it owned in favour of rotating weekly borrowed space at the Winkler and Morden community centres.
But 2025 also proved to be one of their most successful years ever in terms of kids reached—125 youth took part in their individual and group mentoring programming.
Knowing that, along with hearing stories from people whose lives have been touched by the work of Big Bros., is what keeps Neufeld and her team energized to continue on.
“I feel like I get to hear a story at the exact right time that I needed to hear it, and that really keeps me going,” she said. “Randomly running into someone and they say, “Oh, yeah, I was a mentor or I had a Big.”
Mentoring makes a difference in kids’ lives, Neufeld stressed.
“It’s huge,” she said. “Research has shown us that for every dollar that’s invested in our mentoring programs, it returns $23 to society.”
Potentially at-risk kids who receive mentoring go on to greater success in adulthood.
“That $23 is through higher earnings, therefore they’re paying more taxes, therefore they’re able to buy houses. It really snowballs,” Neufeld said. “You also see it in the classrooms, you see it more on a relationship level. Talking with parents and even people who have been through the program … the stories really show how big of an impact it has.”
She recently encountered one of the agency’s first volunteers from 50 years ago. He’s still in contact with his mentoree.
“It’s just so amazing to hear that,” Neufeld said. “It’s so incredible to hear how what we’re doing with the intentional matching works and what we’re doing is impactful and makes a very, very big difference.”
You can learn more about supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters or getting involved as a volunteer online at pembinavalley.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.
