While parents once thought playing outside was best for kids, the SHADE skin cancer prevention foundation advises the opposite. This summer, the nonprofit organization’s “Limit the Sun, Not the Fun” campaign partners with Kings lanes, offering free bowling to children accompanied by a paying adult.
“What I’m basically trying to do is provide the information that going out to play during the day is not the best thing to do. The sun is so intense at that time,” says SHADE founder Shonda Schilling, the wife of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.
Schilling established SHADE in 2002 after her own highly publicized battle with melanoma. The foundation takes a common sense approach, teaching prevention. Parents, she says, need to know that slapping on sunscreen doesn’t provide total protection.
“We’re so misinformed about sunscreens,” says Schilling.
Both Back Bay and Dedham Kings locations offer free daytime admission to children Tuesday through Thursday through Aug. 21.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Schilling says, before laughing, “anything that’s free is a great opportunity. But this says to kids that we are going to this because the sun is intense.”
