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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; People of all ages flocked from all over Luzerne County to Chacko&#8217;s Family Bowling Center on Saturday afternoon to help strike child abuse right into the gutter.</p><p>The inaugural &#8220;Strike Out Abuse&#8221; bowl-a-thon was held by the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center, a nonprofit organization based out of Wilkes-Barre to help coordinate child abuse investigations and provide appropriate referrals to victims and their non-offending family members.</p><p>The bowl-a-thon was held from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Chacko&#8217;s, and was open to the public. For $200 per team of five or six bowlers, participants received two hours of unlimited bowling, free shoe rental, one large pizza, one pitcher of soda, an event T-shirt and one commemorative event glass.</p><p>&#8220;The response has been absolutely incredible,&#8221; said Shannon Peduto, the director of Luzerne County CAC and the organizer of the event. &#8220;We hosted this in order to help the CAC meet our $25,000 challenge, and we are currently on par to meet our goal!&#8221;</p><p>The $25,000 Challenge is a fundraising goal set by the CAC. The organization was approached by a private donor and told if it was able to raise $25,000, the donor would match the amount. Reaching the goal would enable the Luzerne County CAC to provide free medical exams to all the child victims of neglect and abuse in the county.</p><p>&#8220;At this point in the year, we&#8217;ve seen over 335 kids,&#8221; Peduto said. &#8220;We&#8217;re looking at over 400 children this year alone.&#8221;</p><p>The event also featured a plethora of basket raffles with items donated by businesses, such as TGI Fridays, Dominos and Lucky&#8217;s Sportshouse up for grabs, plus a large silent auction for higher-ticket items, such as an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn and Suites, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey tickets and much more.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got well over $1,000 in prizes available to be won here,&#8221; said Shannon Joyce, a forensic investigator for the Luzerne County CAC. &#8220;There&#8217;s a ton of great prizes.&#8221;</p><p>The response was overwhelming &#8211; over 100 people came out to bowl and took up over 20 lanes within the alley.</p><p>&#8220;We held this to reach out to the community and have a fun, family-friendly event for everyone to participate in,&#8221; said Peduto. &#8220;We exist to help the children of the Luzerne County area and we do not receive any funding outside of donations and fundraising. We&#8217;re sustained on the kindness of the community.&#8221;</p><p>The participants had a ball, as well.</p><p>&#8220;The CAC provides such a valuable service to children,&#8221; said Jenny Roberts, a Luzerne County assistant district attorney. &#8220;We wanted to participate in the event to demonstrate how committed the DA&#8217;s office and law enforcement is to Luzerne County and protecting the children.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not a great bowler &#8211; I could probably use bumpers &#8211; but we are having a blast,&#8221; laughed Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salvantis. &#8220;The Luzerne County CAC is such a vital service and it&#8217;s important they are supported so they can continue to do all the incredible work they do.&#8221;</p><p>Even the younger bowlers were on a roll.</p><p>&#8220;I got a strike!&#8221; exclaimed Cole Kramer, 6, of Dallas. &#8220;This is so fun!&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Bowl-a-thon-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Staff members of the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center were on hand for the &#8216;Strike Out Abuse&#8217; bowl-a-thon at Chacko&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. Pictured, from left to right: Beverly Hernandez, administrative assistant; Sharon Joyce, forensic interviewer; Shannon Peduto, executive director; and Tamara Panowicz, family advocate intern. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Bowl-a-thon-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Staff members of the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center were on hand for the &#8216;Strike Out Abuse&#8217; bowl-a-thon at Chacko&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. Pictured, from left to right: Beverly Hernandez, administrative assistant; Sharon Joyce, forensic interviewer; Shannon Peduto, executive director; and Tamara Panowicz, family advocate intern. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Bowl-a-thon-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Three-year-old Kadyn Hernandez is set to roll her bowling ball during the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center&#8217;s bowl-a-thon held at Chacko&#8217;s Bowling Lanes in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Bowl-a-thon-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Three-year-old Kadyn Hernandez is set to roll her bowling ball during the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center&#8217;s bowl-a-thon held at Chacko&#8217;s Bowling Lanes in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Bowl-a-thon-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Approximately 120 bowlers participated in bowl-a-thon to raise funds for the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center at Chacko&#8217;s Bowling Lanes in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Bowl-a-thon-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Approximately 120 bowlers participated in bowl-a-thon to raise funds for the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center at Chacko&#8217;s Bowling Lanes in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Rachel Holly</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>The Times Leader newsroom may be reached at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Strike Out Abuse’ event raises money for Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center