Junior Achievement raises $174,711 at 35th annual JA Bowl-A-Thon

Funds used to support financial literacy, work readiness programs in WNY schools

Junior Achievement of Western New York (JA) announced it raised a record-breaking $174,711 from its 35^th annual JA Bowl-A-Thon, WNY’s largest bowling fundraiser. A total of 1,420 participants representing 64 local companies bowled and raised funds for JA’s financial literacy, career and work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs taught by volunteers in WNY schools.

The total amount raised was announced at a press conference at Tully’s Good Times Restaurant, a gold sponsor of the event. Laura Dolan of Bank America – the event’s title sponsor – joined Tully’s Good Times’ mascot Tully Turtle and JA students from Hamburg High School to unveil the grand total.  

The top five fundraising companies were also announced: Tops Friendly Markets, with $17,006, led by coordinators Joanne Probst and Lauren Smith; National Fuel, with $12,876, led by coordinator Alex Lent; Independent Health, with $12,568, led by coordinators Heather Sullivan and Mary Maisano; KeyBank, with $7,048, led by coordinators Gail Lattimore and Yezenia Kren-Colon; and Lawley, with $6,569, led by coordinator Beth Bauman. Top new fundraising company (with $1,945) is Alcott HR, led by Liz Schucht. Most improved fundraising company is Citizens Bank, led by Christina Quinn and Ricky Scott.  

Smith of Tops Friendly Markets was recognized as the event’s top individual fundraiser for raising $4,031. This qualified her for two roundtrip tickets courtesy of Delta Air Lines. Runner-up for top individual fundraiser was Jere Reed of Independent Health, who raised $2,334. Third place was Alex Lent of National Fuel with $1,984 raised. The top fundraising team, “B-City Bowlers” of Tops Friendly Markets, raised a total of $4,416 and will enjoy a Buffalo Bisons baseball game in a luxury suite. The runner-up team was “Splits & Misses” of Independent Health, with $3,263 raised. In third-place was “The Bowling Stones” of Lawley with $2,465 raised for JA students.

“Thanks to the support of generous sponsors, dedicated board members, and outstanding company coordinators, the 2019 JA Bowl-A-Thon remains Western New York’s largest bowling fundraiser!” said JA board member Cheryl Byrne.

For information on the JA Bowl-A-Thon, visit www.jawnybowlathon.org, or contact Events Manager Tammy Bixby at [email protected] or 716-853-1381, ext. 210.

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades kindergarten through high school about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career and work readiness through experiential, hands-on programs. For the 2018-19 school year, Junior Achievement of WNY estimates to reach the lives of over 15,700 students throughout the eight counties of Western New York. For more information about Junior Achievement, visit www.jawny.org.