Lyons: Donate or roll for Kids’ Sake

Some things traumatized me in high school. Mostly trigonometry.

Fighting is the nature of politics, the news, social media. Heck, it’s human nature. Spend a few hours with my kids. They invent things to fight about. If my hope for their future was reality television, I’d be planning my early retirement.

When you’re tired of fighting, there are plenty of things to agree on, such as the terrific work that many local charities perform. The difference between complaints and action is akin to the difference between texting a sports radio station and leading a team to the Super Bowl.

So here’s an easy point of agreement: Does anyone disagree that kids who need a positive, adult role model to influence their lives should have access to one?

That’s the simple premise behind the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. As a new member of the McHenry County BBBS Board of Directors, I’m still learning the ins and outs, but the local chapter served 540 kids last year through both the traditional match program and school-based programs.

If you’re familiar with Big Brothers Big Sisters, you know it’s a terrific program. If not, you can find out just about everything you’d need to know at www.bbbsmchenrycounty.org.

While volunteers are a huge part of the organization, it takes qualified staff and donations to run the program. If you’ve ever met Executive Director Robyn Ostrem, you’ve met as dedicated and talented of a nonprofit leader as you can find.

So the rest of this column, actually all of it, is little more than a shameless plug for McHenry County BBBS’s big fundraiser – Bowl for Kids’ Sake. It starts next month and goes into early March, although registration already is under way.

The Lyons family plans to take our Slow Your Roll team to Crystal Bowl, 4504 E. Terra Cotta, Crystal Lake, on Feb. 24. We are to bowling what the Kardashians are to discretion. It takes the 4-year-old roughly 45 minutes to propel a 6-pound sphere across an oiled, wood surface until the pins even flinch.