Bowling for a better world

Young Chang

While the nation watched television replay a nightmare this week,

Cindy Soto and Pam Wiener busied themselves with details of today’s

Bowl-A-Thon in Costa Mesa.

Proceeds from the second annual fund-raiser -- organized by the

Sierra’s Light Foundation -- will help improve child-care center safety

and security. The Bowl-A-Thon will also serve as a drop box for Beggin’

For Bears, an organization that collects and gives teddy bears to

children suffering through disasters or trauma. Every bear brought to the

Bowl-A-Thon will be sent to the child victims of this week’s terrorist

tragedy.

Though everything from the Taste of Newport to major sports events

were postponed this weekend, Wiener and Soto say it’s an appropriate day

for their fund-raiser.

“It’s as good a time as ever, especially with what’s going on with the

safety of children,” Wiener said.

For Soto and Wiener, the airline attacks on the World Trade Center and

the Pentagon bring back memories too heavy to bear.

Two years ago, Steven Allen Abrams raced through the Southcoast Early

Childhood Learning Center’s playground in Costa Mesa, killing Soto’s

daughter Sierra, Wiener’s son Brandon and injuring five others.

Abrams was sentenced to life imprisonment last year, but the past week

of national mourning caused double the pain for Soto. Sierra, 4, would

have turned 7 today. No, she wasn’t really a bowler because, after all,

she was too little to even hold a ball. But she was a dancer, Soto

giggles.

“I thought that it would probably be fitting to have the fund-raiser

on Sierra’s birthday,” the mother said.

The second annual Bowl-A-Thon will be run by volunteers from Sage Hill

School and is expected to draw at least 200 people.

The afternoon will include bowling, karaoke, a raffle, a silent

auction, attendance by five-time Hall of Fame pro-bowler Barry Asher and

autograph signings by teen celebrities David Gallagher -- Simon from “7th

Heaven” -- and Ashley Brucell, an actress who appeared in the movie

“Phenomenon.”

“It is a positive approach to combat some of the negative things that

happened in our lives,” Soto said. “It is a fund-raiser to prevent

things. We obviously couldn’t prevent things like what happened at the

World Trade Center, but we can prevent what happened at the Costa Mesa

preschool.”

The horror comes back on weeks such as this one.

“It hit me hard when I first found out about it,” Wiener said of the

airline attacks. “It brought back a lot of flashbacks of the scene

because I was there at the time Brandon was killed. I had to try and

remove myself from that because otherwise . . . I don’t know . . . .”

The two mothers say they regret their charity happens to be in demand.

“It’s such a coincidence that we are now the California receptacle for

Beggin’ for Bears,” Soto said. “And I’m sorry to say that we have to use

that capacity so soon.”

FYI

WHAT: Second annual Bowl-A-Thon

WHEN: Noon to 4 p.m. today

WHERE: Kona Lanes, 2699 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa

COST: $25 minimum donation for unlimited bowling, shoes, food and

drinks

CALL: (949) 251-1470