Coworkers trying to bowl cancer over

Two Portales residents and coworkers are knocking down bowling pins for dollars — with the money going to the fight against cancer.

Roger Jones, who works at C&S Inc., and is on its Relay for Life team each year, bowls with the Continental Bowling League Thursday nights in Clovis.

Jones came up with a new way to raise money for the relay called “Pennies for Pins.”

“I just had the idea in the shower one day. That’s where I get most of my ideas,” Jones said, laughing. “I was just trying to think of another way to make money.”

Jones recruited sponsors who would pay one penny for every pin he knocked down during league play.

Jones began grabbing his C&S customers to be sponsors and recruited his coworker and bowling teammate Nathan Walker to bowl for pennies with him.

“I liked his idea,” Walker said of Jones. “It was a great idea for a great cause.”

“And we’ve got a bit of a competition going,” Jones added, chuckling. “He’s really competitive. He doesn’t like me to win.”

The two men jested each other Monday afternoon about their bowling numbers, saying playing is even more fun when it’s for a good cause.

“It does make it more fun as long as I do good,” Jones said. “I have fun anyway, but I get frustrated when I don’t do good ‘cause it takes money away from the cause.”

“It’s fun to do something that you love and it’s fun to know you’re doing it for a good cause,” Walker added.

Jones said between he and Walker, the two have about 60 sponsors and have raised $1,100, not including the sponsors who will pay at the end of their campaign.

Not only did Jones recruit Walker to join him in Pennies for Pins but he inspired another coworker, April Rutter, to begin a Relay for Life campaign called “Pennies for Pages,” in which she receives a penny for every page she reads in a book.

“It just seemed like a good way to raise money, Rutter said. “I read books all the time at home. It’s fun.”

Rutter said she has 14 sponsors and has read 2,400 pages for the fundraiser so far.

“I harass everyone I can about getting involved,” Jones said, laughing. “People from all walks of life our sponsoring us. It’s quite a variety. And once you tell them it’s for the Relay for Life, it’s no big deal.”

Jones said the two men have four weeks left of their bowling fundraiser.