Participants at the eighth annual Ten Oaks Bowl-a-Thon raised a record-breaking $60,000 for the organization.
This is $15,000 more than the fundraising goal and $15,000 more than the previous record.
March 29 — As they prepare for the eighth annual Ten Oaks Project Bowl-a-Thon on March 31, team members at Ten Oaks have announced the organization is welcoming a new camp director this year.
Marcus Logan, who joined the Ten Oaks team last year as assistant director of operations, will be heading up the 2012 edition of Camp Ten Oaks. The camp is dedicated to engaging and connecting kids from queer and trans communities through activities rooted in play, and the camp’s director focuses on putting that into practice.
Logan has 12 years of experience leading, organizing and working with queer and trans communities and is the director of the Positive Space Network of Halton. As the father of two children, including one Camp Ten Oaks camper, he plans to bring fun, social-justice-oriented programming to the fore, along with some operational changes.
“I’m incredibly honoured and really, really excited about being asked to be camp director this year,” Logan says, noting that he plans to create a sustainable camp kitchen that uses produce from local farms.
Sustainability is an important part of the Ten Oaks model, especially when it comes to ensuring accessibility and continuation of its year-round programming. The group achieves this goal, in part, through fundraisers like the bowl-a-thon.
From $8,000 raised in its first year to more than $40,000 a pop in the last few years, the event is a huge and growing success. The funds help to underwrite Camp Ten Oaks, Project Acorn (an annual four-day retreat for queer and trans youth aged 17 to 24) and the Youth Advisory Committee, which meets regularly to determine the direction of Project Acorn’s programming. It also makes it possible to subsidize campers and retreat participants.
This year’s bowl-a-thon has engaged 35 volunteers and 230 bowlers who are each individually raising funds for the event. That doesn’t even count all the “phantom bowlers,” who fundraise for the cause but don’t take part in the actual event. With an annual operating budget of almost $180,000, every penny counts for Project Ten Oaks.
“There’s been a bit more social media this year, which has drawn attention to us,” says Stuart Bell, a member of the Ten Oaks Project board of directors since 2010. “That’s why we have more bowlers and more sponsors this year.”
At this point, all the bowling lanes are booked and $38,817 has been raised toward this year’s $45,000 goal. Over the next few days, bowlers will try to squeeze every last penny out of friends and family to ensure that the camp will continue for years to come.
The Deets:
Ten Oaks Project’s Annual Bowl-a-Thon
Sat, March 31, 7pm
McArthur Lanes
175 McArthur Rd
tenoaksproject.org
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