A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE

BY BOB JOHNSON

Whenever a disaster strikes, it quickly becomes apparent that acts of kindness are not random among those in the bowling business. They are common and they are wrapped in compassion.

This was demonstrated once again in late September and early October after the remnants of Hurricane Helene blew through western North Carolina, dropping record rainfall in some areas and causing rivers to overflow and devastate dozens of communities.

“The night the storm hit, we had no idea what the damage was going to be,” recalls Paul Kreins, proprietor of New Victory Lanes in Mooresville, North Carolina, two hours east of hard-hit Asheville. “Around midnight, our assistant manager, Kerry Ann Clark, messaged our management team. The first reports of how bad it was had come in, and she was asking what we thought about having our center become a drop-off point for needed supplies. Of course, we all said yes — not even knowing what that would mean.”

What it turned out to mean was clearing out a section of the center’s arcade and billiard room to make room for all the donations that would come in.

“Kerry put out the word on our social media that night,” Kreins says. “On Saturday morning at 9 o’clock, our youth leagues were starting to bowl, and people began pouring into the center with things. Many were bringing shopping bags full of items. And it just began piling up.”

It quickly became apparent that the donated items needed to be sorted and, in some cases, boxed and labeled. So, boxes, packing tape and scissors were purchased.

“We needed to put together a system, and we had to do it on the fly,” Kreins says. “Kerry did a great job of coordinating it, and volunteers soon came out of the woodwork. We had more than half our arcade and half our restaurant packed with supplies and people getting them organized to ship.”

Local transportation companies and NASCAR race teams began offering to pick up and deliver the donated items to Statesville Airport, a regional airport where private planes were being used to transport supplies to the affected areas.

As of Oct. 7, well over 120,000 pounds of supplies had been dropped off at New Victory Lanes, sorted, packed and delivered to the airport.

“All of our employees know that we’re an extremely important part of the community,” Kreins says. “This effort just cemented that in their minds. Everybody was enthused about stepping up and helping.”

Two hours farther east in Clayton, North Carolina, the operators of Rainbow Lanes — Eddie and Pondra Byrd and Melanie Campbell — were similarly compelled to act.

“Our first reaction was, ‘What can we do? What can we do?’” says Campbell. “I called my mother, and she wrote a letter which we put up on Facebook.”

The letter mentioned how fortunate Clayton was to be spared from the wrath of the storm, and then adjured, “Please help us provide a little ray of sunshine after the storm!”

It didn’t take long for the bowlers of Rainbow Lanes to respond.

“Within 24 hours, we had a Yukon (SUV) full of water, all types of food, diapers, formula and paper products,” says Campbell. “We went and purchased some additional paper plates and cups to send with it.”

The next day, enough donations had come in to fill the Yukon again. The same thing happened the following day. On the fourth day, a friend from the Rotary Club transported 40 more cases of water, more diapers and more canned food.

“We are a very close with our bowlers,” says Campbell. “If someone is in need, we put it out there and our bowlers come running.

“We just wanted to help,” she adds of the hurricane relief effort. “We do to help others. That’s our family’s philosophy.”

As has been demonstrated on countless occasions, it’s also the philosophy of a special group of people known as the bowling family.