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| From
left: Barbara Dempsey, Nevada Chapter President,
and Brandy Newman, Clear Channel Radio representative
|
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Bowlers
at the Pat McRight Bowl-a-Thon
|
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The
team from KVEG Hot 97 Radio were winners
of the media trophy |
Striking Out Scleroderma
Helping to strike out scleroderma took on a new
meaning recently as 211 Las Vegans registered
to bowl in order to help raise awareness and money
for the Scleroderma Foundation Nevada Chapter.
It was held as the last event to celebrate June
Awareness Month. Many of the bowlers have been
directly affected by the passing of two local
women, both in the advertising community, from
scleroderma.
The first of an annual event, the Pat McRight
Bowl-a-Thon was an incredible success in the categories
of fun and money raised. The team from KVEG-Hot
97 radio station were winners of the media trophy
and the Sunset Station’s team won in the
general category.
Sponsored by Clear Channel Radio Stations, The
Nevada Chapter was able to raise well over $6,000
after expenses. Several companies participated
with in-kind donations; The Orleans bowling center
lowered their regular price for the three games,
a local T-Shirt company printed and delivered
230 bowl-a-thon shirts, a local public relations
company gave us show tickets, the Green Valley
Ranch Hotel and Casino gave fine dining tickets
in five different restaurants, and a host of other
silent auction gifts were donated by Carole Mandelstein,
a Nevada Chapter board member and owner of Carole’s
Baskets.
As well as a donation, bowlers competed in a
silent auction that boasted of 35 different packages.
They ranged in final bids from $35 to $160, and
all were sold.
We do not sponsor a walk due to the high heat
in Las Vegas. In the spring and fall it is cooler
but there are many walks by other non-profits
who are far more recognizable than scleroderma
so the bowl-a-thon fills the void of not having
a walk. But not for long!
This June in Las Vegas we had two newspaper write-ups
and one in northern Nevada. We were very pleased
that these two newspaper companies stepped up
and featured us!
The broadcasting media were extremely kind. We
had three television stations airing our PSA’s,
one for the bowling event and one generic about
scleroderma. We had a half hour radio interview
that aired on 23 radio stations statewide. We
also appeared on three other community awareness
radio shows.
We changed the message on our outdoor board,
and it remains an incredible resource for awareness.
We receive so many calls from visitors as well
as locals and it is wonderful to be able to give
them information.
Although this is a horrific disease which took
our friends, the bowl-a-thon was successful in
bringing caring people together and their reward
was a great time and helping our cause. It also
brought us some new members and a patron that
donated an additional $500 so we could participate
in an annual Teacher’s Health Fair that
has the potential of reaching 7,000–8,000
people.
Barbara Dempsey, President
Scleroderma Foundation NV Chapter
Cell: 496-9168 |
