Junior Achievement has a significant and lasting impact on the lives of the students who participate, teaching them about entrepreneurship and the skills and concepts that are critical to starting and running a successful business.  I have been involved in Junior Achievement for 5+ years now including volunteering, speaking, and coordinating events.  Over time, it has been very gratifying to hear the stories from past participants - whether its a college project or job interview - where they have been able to take the concepts from their Junior Achievement participation and apply them to real world scenarios with great success.  The annual bowl-a-thon is important for Junior Achievement; it is their largest fundraising campaign that financially supports all the activities they conduct with students throughout the year.