Volunteers and donations are being sought to make this years’ Pearl River County Special Olympics bowling event on Oct. 16 the best one yet.

Knights of Columbus State Warden Bryan Cassagne said there has already been 125 people register for the bowling event this year – a much higher number than the year before. He said this number includes adults as well as children. About 41 special needs children from the ages of nine to 19 have registered through the three county school districts. Cassagne said this is a lot of participants, but there is still time for more to sign up, with the registration deadline being Oct. 1.

The event will be broken up into two parts – a morning bowling session for school-age students from 9 to 11 a.m. and an adult bowling session beginning at noon, Cassagne said. A light lunch will be served at 11 a.m.

Cassagne said Special Olympics events in Mississippi Coast Area three, which includes Pearl River County, are relatively new. While this year’s bowling event only includes Pearl River County residents, Cassagne said they are hoping to expand in the future to include more of area three.

The event is completely free for participants and is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and Kiwanis Club of Picayune. Their sponsorship pays for the bowling fees and t-shirts. However, Cassagne said they would like to provide the participants with a free pizza lunch, but to do so, they need more donations.

Cassagne said they also need volunteers to help with the event itself. Last year the adults could only play one round because there weren’t enough volunteers to keep track of balls and keep the game moving. He said having 10 or more volunteers this year would help the program go more smoothly.

For anyone interested in participating in the event the registration deadline is Oct. 1. For those who wish to donate, donations can be given through the ARC of Pearl River County at P.O. Box 1816, Picayune. If anyone would like to volunteer, Cassagne can be reached at 601-466-3460.