“This event has helped put us over the top as far as our campaign goals,” said State Alexander, executive assistant to the Livingstone College president.

Organized by the college and WSTP radio to benefit the United Negro College Fund, the fund-raiser filled Woodleaf Lanes.

Fourteen corporate sponsors donated $500 per lane, and the organizers tried to fill up the remaining 10 lanes with supporters who provided individual pledges of $75, said Sal Alfieri, an assistant professor of physical education at Livingstone and one of the Bowl-A-Thon’s organizers.

This year’s sponsors included Bank of America, Cheerwine, Food Lion, Goodman Millwork, Hitachi Metals N.C. Ltd., Norandal, Bryant Norman, Piedmont Natural Gas, Power Curbers, Rowan Business Forms, Rowan Distributors, Vulcan Materials Company, WSTP-1490-AM and Bob Paolino, owner of Woodleaf Lanes.

“WSTP has given us a month of free advertising, (and) I don’t think you can put a dollar sign on that,” Alfieri said.

Paolino also donated his facilities. Alfieri first approached Paolino seven years ago with the idea of a bowl-a-thon.

“We had one year we didn’t do it, but this is the sixth year in a row,” Alfieri said.

“We raise $12,000 to $15,000 each year,” and the national United Negro College Fund pledges to return $6 to each college for every $1 raised locally, he added.

This year’s Bowl-A-Thon lasted from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., giving guests a chance to listen to some live music by the Community Band, formed by Phyllis Partee, Joe Ponds and Ken Carroll.

Frank Blackwell, a director of housekeeping at Livingstone, enjoyed himself and supported the college on Saturday. “I think it’s great getting together with everybody and just really enjoying it,” Blackwell said. “If I wasn’t here, I’d be mowing the grass.”

“It’s a good cause, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

Yvonne Tracey, who is on the board of trustees at Livingstone and the committee of institutional advancement, added, “I’m really proud of the fact that the college has come to sponsor this event because it links together the college, corporate sponsors, the students and the faculty and other members of the community in support of a worthy cause.”

For some members of the community, the Bowl-A-Thon has become an annual event.

Vicki McMoore, a manager at Food Lion’s corporate headquarters, said, “We’ve been involved with the Bowl-A-Thon for the last four or five years, and we are a big supporter of Livingstone College. We feel this is a good event because it assists students in going to college by providing scholarships through the United Negro College Fund.

“I actually graduated from Livingstone, so of course, I’m going to sponsor them.”

Rick Hardesty, of Rowan Business Forms, is a regular at the Bowl-A-Thon. “I’ve been involved with the UNCF since probably 1991 so we have been involved in it for a long time. We’ve always contributed to the UNCF campaign. It’s such a worthwhile campaign for the college.

“We work with the businesses and industries to get a lot of manufacturers to contribute to the campaign.”