Kiki Shepard's K.I.S. Foundation Hosts 10th Annual Celebrity Bowling Challenge At PINZ

KIKI SHEPARD (center) is surrounded by celebrity friends
 

Kiki Shepard’s K.I.S. Foundation hosted its 10^th Annual Celebrity Bowling Challenge last night with a fun-filled, star-packed night of fun that included bowling, food, drinks and good-hearted competition.

Saturday night was chock full of stars as a number of celebrities took to the PINZ Entertainment Center bowling lanes in Studio City to take part in a bowling challenge with a mandate to raise Sickle Cell Awareness.

Some of the celebs in attendance included: Obba Babatunde, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Tracie Thoms, Leon, Dawnn Lewis, Jackee, Salli Richardson Whitfield, DondreWhitfield, Aaron Hall, Dorian Missick, Tamala Jones, Rodney Van Johnson, Lawrence Hilton Jacobs, Earl Billings, Vanessa Williams, Art Evans and his wife, Babe and more.

The Celebrity Bowling Challenge is held annually during Sickle Cell Awareness month to bring attention to the disease.

 KIKI SHEPARD at PINZ ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

“We in the entertainment industry can do this for sickle cell,” said Kiki Shepard (It’s Showtime At The Apollo/A Rage in Harlem). “Together we can break the cycle of sickle cell. It’s a disease that can be eradicated if we lift our voices. I am dedicated to raising awareness. Compassion has no limits.”

SALLI RICHARDSON WHITFIELD

“I’m here primarily because of Kiki,” said Salli RichardsonWhitfield (Eureka), who is married to Dondre Whitfield and whose godchild has sickle cell. “I come because we have an opportunity to give back to our own. I’ve been to the hospital many a night for my godchild. So we know about this disease. We always do what we can.”

ART EVANS

“I’m here to support sickle cell research,” said Art Evans (A Soldier’s Story). “This is important. This kind of thing creates an awareness. Hopefully we’ll get enough publicity that it will give this disease some attention, the kind of attention that some of these other diseases get.”

 DORIAN MISSICK (left) DJ'D THE EVENT

The Celebrity Bowling Challenge included 32 teams headed by celebrity captains in a two-game bowling tournament, followed by a celebrity challenge lightning round. Players competed for bragging rights, with winners of the tournament being honored in a light-hearted awards ceremony.

Discovered in the United States over 100 years ago, sickle-cell disease (SCD) statistics show that originally an African-American disease, there are approximately 80,000 Americans living with sickle-cell disease and 3.5 million with sickle cell trait and related disorders. Today the disease has crossed into all races making SCD a multi-cultural disease. There is no general applicable cure for SCD.

The K.I.S. Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to improving the social health and quality of life for children, adults, and families living with Sickle Cell Disease, because “sickness has no boundaries and compassion has no limits.”  For information: www.thekisfoundation.org