October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and in an effort to strike out domestic violence, those in the Northland headed to the bowling alley on Sunday to make a change.

The No Time to Spare Bowl-a-Thon, put on by the Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse (CASDA), was an opportunity for those to raise money in the fight against domestic violence. The money raised from the fundraiser goes towards the CASDA shelter in Superior, Wisconsin and towards its clients.

But there are many ways to raise money, so why choose bowling?

“It’s something fun that is honestly kind of a lost thing that people don’t do as much.,” said Brenna Follis, the Domestic Abuse Program Coordinator at CASDA. “I think it’s super fun to get everybody together. It brings, you know, a bunch of different teams and people and everyone can do different things.”

Those that showed up to the event were long time supporters of CASDA, people that have used their services, or those that were volunteering because of their support for the program.

But those that laced up their bowling shoes and threw their balls into the lane knew it wasn’t about the score.

“It’s all about just having fun and just having communications with people,” said Denise Selden, Outreach Advocate at CASDA. “It’s just getting out in the community to let people know that we’re here and trying to break stigmas or anything of domestic violence and just roll that community effort, because it takes the community for us to be supported.”

While there were prizes, gift cards, and stickers, but there was only one thing that put a smile on everyone’s face, and that was personal growth.

“Everyone’s got their demons,” said Follis. “Everyone has their things that have happened to them. But to see people come out of it stronger than they were before, it’s incredible. It’s something that you can’t ever be paid for. It’s just the gratification that you get for it.

CASDA is available to contact 24 hours and 7 days a week.