F E B R U A R Y

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A Newsletter from the TRCC/MWAR Bowlathon Committee

THANK YOU!
Thank you to those who keep coming back year after year, and thank you to those who are new to this event!
The fundraising you do for this event to be a success every year allows the centre to invest where the collective determines vital. While the centre does receive government funding (and appreciates it!), the government is very particular about where and how the money is spent.

In 2013 the funds many of you helped to raise contributed to answering over 7000 calls on our 24 hour crisis phone line, and train over 200 volunteers who donated over 10 000 hours! Thats absolutely incredible! We have volunteers who are on our collective board, work at the front desk, work on the crisis line, and do face to face counseling to name a few things.

A word from our Bowlathon Team.

My name is Jess LePage and I have been volunteering with the centre for the past six years. I am so excited to have more responsibility working on Bowlathon2014. We have an absolutely incredible team that is made up of staff, volunteers and placement students that guarantee yet another rewarding event. I am looking forward to March 1st when I will hopefully be able to connect email addresses, twitter handles, and (extremely clever) team names to faces! If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to email bowlathon@trccmwar.ca or call 416-597-1171 x233.

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FEB. 6, 2014

Dates to Remember!
February
How are you recognizing Black History month? Here are some of the events happening in Toronto: http://www.toronto.ca/blackhistory/events.htm

February 6, 2014
We launch our trivia contest! See page 5 of the newsletter.

February 14, 2014

9th Annual Strawberry Ceremony In Honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and those who have died Violent Deaths by Colonialism Show your support by making signs honouring the missing and murdered women. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/5787586388676

February 14, 2014

Happy birthday to us! 2014 marks our 40th anniversary stay tuned for the different ways we plan to celebrate this year!

February 22, 2014

One week left to finalize donations, get your team in gear (costumes? T-shirts?), and get your bowling vocabulary up to date: http://www.bowlersparadise.com/help/glossary.shtml

High School Students!

Have you completed your 40 hours of volunteer work? Help us, so we can help you! Fundraising takes time, if you keep track of your hours while raising money for your bowling team, (dont forget to include the 3 hours at the event!) we can sign off on your hours.
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FEB. 6, 2014

Sponsors, Donors and Prizes!

We are still looking for sponsors! Do you know any companies, or people who may want to sponsor lanes? Lane sponsorship starts at $300. When a person sponsors a lane they will get signage at our event with their name (or company name) on a sign over a lane, their logo or name on our community board at the event, on our Tumblr, appreciation tweets, and of course the knowledge that they are helping our wonderful cause. They more sponsorship we get, the more money from this event that will go directly back to the centre! We have some absolutely wonderful prize donors this year. Please consider supporting them with your patronage as their support of our event indicates incredible community awareness and generousity: Alternative Grounds MamaEarth Organics Delivery WestJet ViaRail Brass Vixens FitZone Plus Womens Fitness Clubs of Canada Black and Decker Fairmont Royal York Hotel Pearl Harbor Gift Shop York Federation of Students Lux Spa Ontario Science Centre Red Tea Box Mysteriously Yours

Fundraising
I know asking for money can be tricky, but from what I have seen people have been exceeding goals already! Way to go! Something one of the students at the centre did proved to be very lucrative. She went to her local bank and asked them to donate, and they did! Most banks will donate up to $500! We have attached a how to approach your local bank branch guide to help you out! One team (The Cramberries) showed a film at George Brown College and sold creative cupcakes to help raise money for their team (see photo at left). If you would like us to promote an event youre hosting we would be happy to! We have some flyers and posters left as well that you can hand out of hang up!
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FEB. 6, 2014

Annual Report
I have also attached our Annual Report. When people are donating they may want to know more about what the centre does, who we are etc. We are very proud to show them! Send them our Annual Report, or if that seems a bit too lengthy, pull out the parts you deem most important. If you need help generating a donation letter please feel free to email me and I can send you something that you can tweak to make more personal!

Early Birds!
Congratulations to our early bird winners!: Siobhan (iPad) and Vibhor ($100 at Lux Spa)!

5 or 10 pin?
Ooooooops! We forgot to ask you to specify whether you want 5 or 10 pin lanes on our registration form! We understand most people want 10 pin. Please email us if you would like 5 pin so we can make sure to get you in the right lane!

Single bowlers!
Do you know someone who wants to bowl but doesnt have enough time to get a team together? We have lots of teams who would love another bowler! Just let us know and we will find a great team for you to join at whatever time is preferred!

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WINTER 2016

Trivia Contest
We have one more prize to give out before March 1st. During the month of February we are going to ask 10 trivia questions via Facebook/Twitter covering a few topics (bowling, Toronto, TRCC/MWAR). Please keep in mind this is a contest for individuals, not teams. All team members can participate individually. Participants have 24 hours to respond via direct message on Twitter or Facebook, or by emailing the answer to bowlathon@trccmwar.ca. All participants will be put into a draw to win our last prize before the big day. Good luck!!!

Thank you
Thank you (again and again) for all the work you are doing. Please forward this newsletter to your teams so they are up to date with everything that is going on. See you in a few weeks! The Bowlathon2014 Committee Twitter @TRCCMWARbowl Facebook facebook.com/trccmwarbowlathon http://trccmwarbowl.tumblr.com