Anti-Bullying Event Now In Third Year And Keeps Growing
Anti-Bullying Event Now In Third Year And Keeps Growing
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Anti-Bullying Event Now In Third Year And Keeps GrowingInstead of just talking about how no one should be bullied, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputy Shaun Mudd decided to do something about it three years ago.
His efforts to raise awareness about bullying has grown into the third annual Bowling Against Bullying from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 10. The free event will be at The Bowling Alley, 1535 N. Detroit St., Warsaw, and includes bowling, pizza and raffle prizes.
“Three years ago, there was an incident in one of the high schools. A lady’s son was being bullied, he’s severely autistic. And I didn’t know her at the time, and I just saw her post on Facebook. A friend of mine had shared it. So I made contact with her,” Mudd said.
He told her he was with the KCSO and he’d like to have lunch with her son at school. Mudd, some other deputies and others planned to have lunch with the son on a Monday. However, the day before the woman received a text from the school board telling her that it didn’t allow people to come to the school to have lunch with students.
Mudd still wanted to do something. This was at the same time school corporations in the county were experiencing a number of student suicides. He came up with the idea for a bowling event.
“I, at that time, thought it was going to be a one-time thing,” he said.
The first year of the event about 80 to 100 kids and adults attended. Some bikes were given away, and one of Mudd’s friends donated a Kindle Fire.
One woman showed up with her kids and she didn’t know anything was going on. She gave Mudd the $40 she was going to spend on her kids’ bowling to put toward the following year’s event.
“At that time, I never thought about next year. I was like, ‘Well, I guess I’ve got to have something next year,’” Mudd said.
In the second – 2018 – about 100 to 120 kids and adults showed up.
Bowling Against Bullying has typically been held in May, but this year Mudd was at the law enforcement academy, graduating from there May 18. He gave credit to Holly Hummitch, Winona Lake Park Department director, and Paul Nowak, KCSO, for jumping in and helping organize this year’s event because they saw the need.
“They’re like the main reason it’s still going on this year,” he said.
Hummitch also made the flyers/poster for this year’s event.
There’s no sign-up for Bowling Against Bullying, people are just welcome to show up.
Mudd said they’re working on getting donations for the Aug. 10 event. He said he’d be willing to pick them up. Donors can contact him through the Bowling Against Bullying Facebook page or email shaunmudd55@gmail.com.
One person has donated a $100 gift certificate for a tattoo. Walgreens gave a $25 gift card. For the second consecutive year, Polywood in Syracuse has donated a piece of lawn furniture.
“The big-ticket items we do for a raffle and that helps us raise money for next year,” Mudd said.
Jeremy Makinson, owner of Sterling Concrete, has paid for the food and the bowling lanes for the event the last two years.
“Awesome people. It wouldn’t be possible without them,” Mudd said.
At the start of the event, Mudd said he welcomes and thanks everyone for coming out. He lets them know that he understands it’s hard growing up in this day and age, and that there’s always someone out there who cares for them no matter how bad it gets.
“I never bullied anyone ... in high school my buddy was David Fribley. He was a senior when I was a sophomore, and he was a beast of a man. But he was a kind-hearted guy, and never once did I ever see him pick on anybody. He was just a cool guy. He could have pushed around anybody, because he was bigger than anybody, but he was just a nice guy. And that’s how I try to live my life even today. There’s no reason to pick on somebody,” Mudd said.
Fribley, a former Warsaw Community High School football player and track standout, was a 1996 WCHS graduate and the first Hoosier killed in combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom on March 23, 2003. Fribley is the son of Gary and Linda Fribley, Atwood.
Mudd said after the event people usually tell him they’re very grateful for it and had a good time. He also makes sure that every kid goes home with a prize, whether that’s a gift card or a new bicycle.
“This thing was started on a whim and it kept on going because everyone thought it was a good idea. So, I’m not sure (how long this event will keep going),” Mudd said. “My motto is, ‘I’m here for a good time, I’m not here for a long time.’ So I try to live that every day.”
