Barefoot lawn bowling? Carmeuse Canada supports fundraiser for cystic fibrosis research

Carmeuse recently sponsored the Lawn Summer Nights, (LSN), lawn bowling fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. The event took place at the London Thistle Lawn Bowling Club in London, Ontario, one of ten LSN events held across Canada over the summer. 

The first LSN event took place in Victoria, British Columbia, in 2009, inspired by the life of cystic fibrosis campaigner, Eva Markvoort. Eva was in her mid-20s when she received a double lung transplant at Vancouver General Hospital. With the media attention this garnered, she worked to raise awareness of the condition. 

Eva’s story is particularly poignant for Patrick Moloney, Senior HR Manager at Beachville, one of three Carmeuse locations in Canada. Eva was the niece of Patrick. After her transplant, her friends decided to hold an event to raise money for cystic fibrosis. One of them had just come back from Australia, where lawn bowling in bare feet is popular. They call it ‘barefoot bowls’. After the first event in 2009, it took off. The event began in London about ten years ago.

Barefoot bowl challenges the traditional perception of lawn bowling. In Australia, it is popular with 20-somethings—a dynamic the LSN event seeks to replicate in Canada. The core audience is young professionals, but also has the full participation of the London Thistle Lawn Bowling Club, whose members are primarily retired, and who host and coach the event.

Sadly, Eva lost her battle with cystic fibrosis in 2010. But her legacy lives on with $4,200,000 raised so far by LSN events since 2009. 

Pictured in the photograph from left-to-right is Patrick Moloney with his son Ethan Moloney, spouse Annette Markvoort, and daughter Tess Moloney.