Day of bowling benefits children’s hospital
MASONTOWN – Jennifer Knox of Masontown was there for her hairdresser’s child who was diagnosed with a severe form of anemia and is waiting to see if his 1-week-old brother is a match for a bone marrow transplant.
Patty Gacek of Bobtown attended to support her 14-year-old daughter who loves to bowl.
Fayette County Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites swung by after church and bowled a strike with his son by his side.
Chris Higbee bowled with his band mates as he did last year and will do in future years.
Joe and Rosemary Pascia hosted it and Bob Hixon coordinated it.
All came out for the children.
Colorful balloons and people filled Klondike Lanes on Sunday for the 7th annual Bowl-For-Life to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a pediatric treatment and shared research facility in Memphis, Tenn.
All proceeds from the bowling and shoes raised on Sunday will go to St. Jude’s to fund potentially life saving research that is shared with area hospitals.
The goal was $10,000. By 4 p.m., the “thermometer” denoting the amount collected was etched in red to the height of $3,000. By Sunday night, the amount rose to nearly $5,000.
Last year’s event raised $5,000.
“It’s all about the kids,” owner of Klondike Lanes Joe Pascia said. “I have young grandchildren and I want to see every kid have a good life so they can see their first pair of shoes or to get to play on the playground.”
Event coordinator Bob Hixon added, “To support those kids – that’s our goal. To give those kids things we have that they never would have.”
Pascia said the event has grown each year, while Sunday afternoon ushered in somewhere between 500 and 600 people.
“It gets larger and larger every year,” Pascia said.
Terry “The Tadpole” Hunt of FROGGY radio station has visited St. Jude’s. He said it takes over $400,000 to fund the hospital’s daily operations.
Hunt said fund-raising events such as the Bowl-For-Life are important because it takes a lot of advancements to increase cure rates of childhood illnesses, as St. Jude’s has done. Hunt said the last time he visited St. Jude’s in 2000, the hospital succeeded in increasing the cure rate of childhood leukemia from 72 to 80 percent.
St. Jude’s, he said, will research the lesser-known child illnesses such as HIV and AIDS that the drug companies steer away from because the research doesn’t turn a profit.
According to its Web site, St. Jude’s hospital was the first to cure the most common form of childhood leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), helping to drive the cure rate from 4 percent in 1962 to over 80 percent today.
The hospital has also recently pioneered a unique procedure allowing children to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant from a parent without an exact marrow match.
It is home to the team pioneering the development of a new, multi-envelop HIV vaccine designed to combat all the natural strains of the virus, and the only pediatric health facility in the world to build an on-site facility to manufacture highly specialized life-saving drugs
Pascia thanked a number of local people and businesses for another successful year: local radio stations Kiss FM, FROGGY, WMBS and the PICKLE; local bands the Poverty Neck Hillbillies and the Concrete Cowboys; former Pittsburgh Steeler Steve Courson, who signed autographs on Sunday; Vicites and Fayette County Controller Mark Roberts; Rode Rigs of Syria; Phil Butcho, who auctioned off novelty items at the event; local TV station HSTV; and local businesses Karen’s Pizza from Fredricktown, Jerry’s Catering from Republic, Brodak’s Shop ‘n Save in Masontown, Frank’s Auto in Uniontown and Coors Brewing in Pittsburgh.
Pascia also gave a big thank you to his wife, Rosemary, and their daughter, Hilary, in addition to the number of people who came out to bowl and show their support.
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On the Web:
For more information on St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, visit www.stjude.org.