Michigan bowling alley owner introduces "Unemployment League" (weekly job fairs with free bowling)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

For Job Search, Bring a Résumé and Bowling Shoes

By CHRIS HERRING

Battle Creek, Mich.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125901918572961399.html?reflink=barrons_redirect



Dan Labrecque started holding weekly job fairs at his bowling alley this fall.

Luring customers into his bowling alley wasn't Dan Labrecque's problem.

The worse the economy turned in this battered city, the more bowlers walked through his door. Still, sales dropped, a trend the owner attributed to unemployed people having plenty of free time, but less money to spend.

Instead of urging his customers to bowl more or move along, Mr. Labrecque, who had once been laid off himself, wondered if something couldn't be done for this growing congregation showing up at Nottke's Family Fun Center. And it couldn't hurt the bowling alley's image.

The Unemployment League was born. In an effort to help get his community back on its feet, Mr. Labrecque partnered with an organization to hold weekly job fairs at the bowling alley -- while job seekers are throwing strikes or picking up spares. The initiative, which started in September, is an attempt to lift the spirits and prospects of unemployed residents in a state leveled by the economic downturn.

Each week, nearly 150 people and about 10 hiring companies and organizations come out to Nottke's to talk jobs with possible employers and knock down pins free of charge.

[MadMaddie]

1. Fantastic!! This guy deserves a pat on the back for being

creative!!

[Barack_America]

2. This story is really great.

It's stories like this that make me believe this country can bounce back from what the GOP has done to it.

[tabbycat31]

great story

I love reading things like this

[SpiralHawk]

3. The dude has balls, that's fer sure.

good on him, for employing a standard trans-republicon socialist tactic (LOL): helping your neighbors by supporting them in pulling themselves up by their own bowling-shoe laces.

[Raster]

4. "The dude has balls."

:rofl:

[Nikki Stone1]

5. Now there's a role model

I'm not fond of the phrase, but this guy definitely fits the bill.

[juno jones]

6. Well, we've found at least one good person today.

Thanks Dan, and good luck to your new league! May they strike in the bowling alley and succeed in finding work.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. I love posting this stuff...

...because you're right, "we've found at least one good person today."

Reality is reality...I ran into a good friend I haven;t seen in over a year the other day, standing in line at the supermarket.

Her husband had a stroke.

Her "three strikes," drug-addicted son has been sent back to prison for three years for stealing a Bluetooth device.

The current economy has depleted their funds. In January, they will be selling the house they've lived in for most of their married life.

A year after my mom died...my dad died ten years earlier...they invited me to their home for Thanksgiving dinner. It was traditional. It was all there...the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, all of it.

And now that home will be going on the market, and they will probably sell for a lot less than it's really worth, because ethey need the money.

You need that balance in life. You need to hear those bowling alley stories. You need to know that humanity is still basically good, and caring, and that there will always be people who remember their own hard times and make a decision to make life better for people who are suffering NOW.

:patriot: