Over the weekend Sask Abilities held their 31st annual Ability Bowl.

The event has been hosted continuously for over three decades and has been one of the biggest fundraisers for Sask Abilities. Through that time it has always had the support of the local community.

Kimi Duzan, the regional director for Sask Abilities, says the Ability Bowl does more than just raise funds.

"It's a way as an organization we can engage with the community," she said. "Raise the awareness and create opportunities for people of all abilities to be included in different avenues of community."

Deputy Mayor George Bowditch threw the opening bowling ball for the Ability Bowl.

"Just because youths and adults have a little bit of a tougher time in life it doesn’t mean that they can't be a very important part of our community," he said. "It's important to support them because they have a lot of special abilities and it's just awesome to be able to see all the programs that they do."

Bowditch added that it's amazing to see the community rally around the event every year.

"It's phenomenal," he said. "People mark it on their calendar the minute they hear about it. They mark it down, and they start fundraising."

The event, which was held Saturday afternoon featured celebrity bowlers that stopped by to kick off each shift such as Cypress Hills-Grassland MP David Anderson and MLA for Swift Current Everett Hindley.

Anderson said to see the Ability Bowl get the continued support over its 31 years shows its’ importance to the community.

"I've been here a couple of times, and it's always fun to walk in here and see the enthusiasm and the real excitement that's around the day. Overall, it's the enthusiasm of the day that's really a reason to come out and enjoy it," he said. "Right from the younger kids through to the seniors who are committed to this event. It's an important project, and I think we should be thankful that people are supporting it the way they are."

Everett Hindley said that Swift Current shows how important Sask Abilities is every year with their participation and support.

"SaskAbilities has been an important part of our community for decades now," he said. "It's one of the things that I recall everybody always talked about. There's lots of participation and lots of community support behind it. I think what's important is just the amount of work they do in our community and what they do for our folks with disabilities in terms of employment options and providing them with programs and services."

Hindley says that it's amazing to see how much well-deserved support Sask Abilities is given.

"It takes a lot of work. There's a lot of organizations that are trying to raise dollars for their particular causes, and this one is strong year after year," he said. "People from all around the community support it and you see some familiar faces year after year, and there's always some new faces. That's what's really exciting is that there are new people involved each year. It just shows the strength the community has thrown behind it and the support they've thrown behind it."

Hindley added that he believes Sask Abilities will be an important part of the community for years to come.

The 31st annual Ability Bowl raised a total of just over $105,000.