KNOXVILLE (WVLT) – The sport of bowling is helping a number of recovering drug addicts and alcoholics knock down their abuse. It's part of the Cornerstone of Recovery Treatment Center's 19th Annual Alumni Reunion which was held over the weekend.

"This has changed my life,” said Fabian Ray, a recovering addict who celebrated more than his best score on Sunday. “I'm so blessed to be alive and so grateful for the opportunity to be here bowling."

For more than two decades, Ray battled his addictions to Oxycontin and alcohol.

“I was stealing beer outside at the Weigels right across the street,” he said. “I had my first beer at five years old."

He managed to pull his life out of the gutter, and now at the age of 48, he has been clean of drugs and alcohol for exactly two years.

On Sunday, more than 700 addicts in various stages of recovery were bowling the lanes and hitting the links for Cornerstone’s annual reunion.

"I grew up as the child of an alcoholic, and to see families heal, it's just very, very exciting,” said Dan Caldwell, who runs Cornerstone.

The annual weekend gives the Blount County recovery center’s patients a chance to share stories, support, and hope.

"I believe that's what God has me here for,” said Webster Bailey who got over his addiction thanks to Cornerstone, then became a counselor. “It warms my heart to see people out playing clean, sober, laughing and cutting up. They are just learning to live again and it makes my heart smile.”

Cornerstone philosophy is that events like the reunion can help show their past and present patients that recovery is not a destination, but a journey that takes a lifetime.

“It's like diabetes, cancer or any other chronic disease,” Caldwell said, “if you do the right things day in and day out, you're going to recover."

“I have not given up, “said Fabian Ray, who may be among the best examples of how Cornerstone can help any addict who wants to get better.

The weekend reunion also helped raise money for the center, which accepted about $6,000 in donations. The money will be used to provide loans for patients needing somewhere to live following treatment.