Veterans groups get $35K from bowling tourney

Maple Family Centers presented $35,000 in proceeds from its annual BVL Tournament of Champions to two organizations serving Long Island veterans.  

Maple, a family business that owns and operates five bowling centers, hosted the tournament at its Maple Lanes RVC in Rockville Centre, where they presented $25,000 to Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University and $10,000 to the Long Beach Waterfront Warriors.

The BVL Tournament of Champions is one of many events that Maple Family Centers holds throughout the year in support of the Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL), a national charity focused on supporting recreational therapy programs and services to speed recuperation and boost morale to brighten the lives of America’s veterans and active-duty service men and women. 

Raising more than $56 million for this cause since its inception in 1942, BVL is bowling’s oldest and most successful charity. Maple Family Centers, which has been owned by the LaSpina family since 1960, has donated more than $500,000 to BVL over the years to support veterans’ programs in the region.  

“We are proud to raise funds to support BVL and to give back to veterans, who have given so much of themselves,” Joe LaSpina, vice president of Maple Family Centers, said in a company statement. “With these most recent donations, we are happy to support two excellent programs that brighten the lives of so many veterans in our local community.”