Letter Writing Campaign in Kentucky
Helps Purchase Six Lanes
It wasn’t hard for Joanne Wisby to get involved in BVL’s “Bowlers Salute America’s Troops” project. She believes in the cause. Wisby is an avid league bowler. Her husband served two tours in Vietnam and her father was also in the military. What’s more, as a Hopkinsville, Kentucky resident, she is located very near Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Division. She is very well aware of the sacrifices made by America’s service men and women.
So when Wisby attended the WIBC meeting in Tulsa, Ok. last spring, she knew that the carpet bowling lane project was one she could really support.
At first, this BVL volunteer started out in the leagues. “I took the program around to the leagues I bowl in every week at the Pinnacle, in Clarksville, Tenn., and also in Kentucky at Hooper Center in Ft. Campbell and Indian Hills Bowl in Hopkinsville. I explained what it was all about and ran a 50/50. That gave me enough money to ship over the first lane and buy another one,” explains Wisby.
But Wisby’s effort didn’t stop at the doors of the bowling centers. She initiated a letter writing campaign to solicit contributions from the larger community. “I started writing letters to appeal to veteran’s groups. I thought they would understand the needs of the soldiers – organizations like the Amvets, The Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee, the Eagles Club,” says Wisby. That effort paid for a few more lanes.
From the veteran’s organizations, she moved on to area businesses. One letter, to the local Wal-Mart resulted in a $1,000 donation and being selected as their featured charity.
“I’d sent a letter to the area Wal-Mart to appeal to their program which supports local charities. They liked the campaign so much, they sent my appeal to their corporate headquarters – we qualified for corporate support and received a check for $1,000!” says Wisby. Two employees of Wal-Mart have spouses in Iraq, so this really hit home for the store. Wal-Mart then arranged to hang two of the carpet lane carrying bags at each of their front entrances and encouraged customers to write a note of support to the troops on the bags.
“I went to the BVL website and printed off photos of the complete kit, and the lanes on the ground in Iraq. Then I used the press release supplied in the promotional package, and posted it right next to the bags. I wanted everyone to see exactly what the carpet lane project was all about.” Concludes Wisby, “Everyone’s talking about the campaign…this whole project has been really exciting.”
