NEW BEDFORD — The lanes at New Bedford’s Wonder Bowl were filled on Sunday with bowlers decked out in red looking not only to secure bragging rights for their pin-knocking abilities, but to also help out area families in need.

The first day of spring saw the first ever “Strikes for Hope” fundraiser hosted by Dartmouth-based My Brother’s Keeper — a Christian nonprofit that offers furniture and other necessities,  including limited food assistance .

Josh Smith, the director of the facility on Reed Road, said the idea came about as a way to both raise money, but allow families to have fun while doing so.

He added that two weeks before the event was put on, spots in all 40 bowling lanes all sold out to individual donors and businesses such as Bay Coast Bank and Cape Cod 5.

“We have some wonderful partners,” Smith said. “They helped make this a big success to ensure more local families get the help they need.”

But perhaps the biggest help came from a $10,000 challenge set by John Higgins, one of the nonprofit’s board members.

For each of the first 100 strikes bowled, $100 would be donated by Higgins to My Brother’s Keeper.

Just over an hour into the event, the nonprofit hit that $10,000 goal he set.

“Thankfully we set that hard cap,” Higgins said with a laugh. “A lot of great bowlers came out today.”

Smith noted that his organization initially planned to host the fundraiser in March 2020, but the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic had to put those plans on pause until this Sunday.

“It took us two years, but it was worth the wait,” he said. “Just an absolute home run today.’

Smith added that his organization plans to host “Strikes for Hope” again next year and also hopes to bring back its annual soiree at the Reed Road facility.

“Anything to help the families,” he said.