By Kathy L Collins
The 4th Annual Bowling Your Brains Out will be held on Sunday, November 4 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at The Alley at South Shore located at 10221 Big Bend Rd. in Riverview. This annual event is organized by Roni-Kay Lopez of Riverview.
“I started this event just six months after undergoing brain surgery to help me with my epilepsy and the intensity of my seizures. The surgery I had was a left temporal lobectomy, hence the name of the event,” said Lopez.
With this event, Lopez strives to raise awareness of epilepsy, a disease that affects three million Americans. Lopez also strives to raise funds to support Epilepsy Services of West Central Florida (ESWCF), a non-profit organization that supports patients with epilepsy. ESWCF’s mission is to promote health and facilitate healthy lifestyle choices for people withy seizure disorder. For this year’s event Lopez’s goal is $20,000.
“One hundred percent of the funds raised goes to ESWCF. The organization helps over 700 patients in our community,” explained Lopez.
For this year’s event, each bowling lane is sponsored by a business or individual who wants to form a team. Sponsorships levels are $250, $500 and VIP at $1,000. Each sponsorship gets bowling for a team of five, shoe rental, event t-shirts and lunch. There will also be a fabulous silent auction featuring hotel stays, bowling balls, gift cards and more. There will be a raffle drawing every 30 minutes and awareness and education spotlights throughout the day.
“Our organization (ESWCF) was established in 1973. Epilepsy has more neurological diagnoses than Parkinsons, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Cerebral Palsy combined. It is as common as breast cancer,” explained Lopez.
ESWCF’s principal office is located at 3811 W. Sligh Ave in Tampa. For more information, please visit www.epilepsyservices.com.
For more information on the 4th Annual Bowling Your Brains Out, please contact Lopez at ronikay23@gmail.com or call The Alley at 672-8353.
