It’s a Strike for the “Coats For Kids” Bowling Tournament

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Knights of Columbus Hosted their 8th Annual Coats for Kids Bowling Tournament at Meadowood Lanes on Saturday, and this time it was a strike. All proceeds from the annual event are used to buy brand new coats for kids in the Children’s Home Society, a site which has housed thousands of children who come from abusive homes and traumatic events.

This year, the non-profit was able to reserve 18 lanes, that’s six more teams than last year. With 24 sponsors, the number of sponsors surpassed last year’s final count.

“People are coming out, they’re very excited. Even the Mayor’s office sent a team and as you can hear everybody’s having fun. We’ve got a lot of kids that are bowling, there are families that are bowling so it’s just a real good group effort” said Jerry Kanta, Deputy Grand Knight of Columbus Council #8025.

Organizers say they hope to purchase 200 new coats this time around, last year they distributed 156. The Knights of Columbus buy coats at the end of each summer and bring them to the Children’s Home Society in September.  For many of the kids, it’s their very first time getting a brand new coat.