The Superbowl-A-Thon Awards:

SuperBowl-A-Thon XIII was held last month at the AMF Bay Shore Lanes in Santa Monica to raise money for the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition and on March 12 its winners were recognized.Coalition Chairman John Maceri, who is also the Executive Director of OPCC, stated at the awards breakfast at The Lobster “even in these tight economic times the SuperBowl-A-Thon raised a little over $25,000.” The funds were raised from sponsors of the event, by bowling teams, and by those who got pledges.Marceri stressed that a portion of the funds will go to the Coalition’s Winter Shelter Program, which provides 320 beds to homeless individuals from December to March 15 in West L.A. and Culver City armories. The rest of the funds will go to the coalition as a whole and will help fund food, hygiene supplies, transportation, and other services needed by the homeless.This year 91 teams bowled in four sessions and a first place winner was honored for each session. The Session I winner was the OPCC Team –Safe Haven, for Session II it was Saint Monica’s Catholic Community, and for Session III it was the Big Blue Bus – Team 4. Those who competed in Session IV were from the hospitality industry and the winner of the Hospitality Challenge was Team 2, from The Lobster.Individual bowler awards were also presented. First place went to Michael Robinson from the CLARE Foundation, second place to Jimmy Quaintance from Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, and third place to Ed So from Morley Builders.Lastly, awards were presented to individual pledge earners. Ron Davis from Capital Source Bank was in first place while Tim Giroux from the Big Blue Bus took second place. In third place was John Beradino from New Directions.Literature from the Coalition states they are “an alliance of over 30 organizations, public agencies and faith communities committed to ending hunger and homelessness through service coordination, public education and advocacy.” The event had a number of sponsors. First Federal Bank of California was the “Perfect Game” title sponsor for the sixth consecutive year, and Capital Source Bank, The Lobster, Morley Builders, Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Santa Monica Police Officers’ Association were” Strike” sponsors. The 2009 “Spare” level sponsors were: Harding Larmore Mullen Jakle Kutcher & Kozal, LLP; Kaiser Permanente; Le Merigot, a JW Marriott Beach Hotel & Spa; Pacific Park; and Venice Family Clinic.