Several gentleman from another Forum and myself donated some gear and equipment to a deserving youth, to help him acquire what he needs to continue with his hunting and outdoor pursuits.
The generosity has snowballed, and we are now seeking another young man or woman that could benefit.
If anyone knows of a deserving youth, plus do not hesitate to contact me and put forth their name and situation for consideration.
Only real requirement is that the young man or woman nominated must exhibit a need for assistance, as well as a genuine desire of the outdoors. By need, it could be a single parent household. A family hit extremely hard by the down turn in the economy and absolutely no way for the family to afford to equip their son or daughter for hunting.
The lucky young man or woman selected will be asked to submit pictures during the hunting season showing them utilizing their equipment, and hopefully have deer or other game in the picture! :biggrin:
Fos,
No one comes to mind, but this is a REALLY great thing for you and the others to do.
Jerry
No one here either, but a very noteworthy cause FOs, and one to be very proud of taking part in. Been involved in helping kids out before a few times myself with firearms, other outdoor gear and other interests items, and families who couldn't even put enough food on the table. The personal gratification far more than outweighs your time and money, but not as much as putting the smile on their faces that can't be washed off. My hats off to you... :highclap:
The dark side, which I'm sure you are aware of...
A few folks take advantage no matter how stringent within reason you try to assure the donations actually go where they were intended. Literally impossible if its not for a local child. A dad can use it, his 2 year old child can't types of things. It's sad, but its the world we live in now where a persons word is not what it was in days of yore.
I could relate instances I was involved in where similar happened. I won't except to say that if the word gets out the families end up paying for the gear many times over in lost relationships, and both in business and unfortunately for the children at school if a local gift.
Mannn I WISH I could think of someone,,, cause this is above and beyond.
I suppose it's a blessing in disguise not to know any in the described situation though.
I cant think of anybody offhand either but this is just flat-out awesome! I have alot of respect for you and the others that are involved.
Great Idea, one place to look for deserving kids would be the children of service members that have lost their lives serving their country. CC
Fos you the man :highclap: I hope you find someone.
might have a line on a boy that lost everything in the storms that passed through here a couple weeks ago. got a friend doing some checking now
Slag,
I'm sorry to hear of the misfortune of the young man and his family. Please keep me posted, and we'll see about adding this young man to the list.
The first recipient of the "Deserving Youth" project has been awarded. Even had enough left over loot to equipped his two brothers with some goodies.
QuoteThank you for the gifts that I have received. I loved the binoculars that I had received. The backpack was great. The Leatherman’s tool was awesome. I am pretty sure that the first-aid kit, emergency whistle, and the emergency blanket will be useful, though I hope that I don’t have to use them. The skinning knife and flashlight will really come in handy. The sling will put to good use. And I can’t thank the person who had given me the .308 lever action enough. I promise to keep all of these items in their top condition. There is not much else I can say, so I hope you all can understand how thankful I really am. I truly can’t put it into words. The best that I can do is thank you all very, very much.
Sincerely,
Coy
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z254/MallardAddict/photo-11.jpg)
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z254/MallardAddict/photo-9.jpg)
QuoteTo all that were involved in the overwhelmingly generous gifts to my sons, THANK YOU! It's always a tough spot when you want to be able to do things for your children and you're not able to. Such as provide them with life skills (hunting) that will benefit with them forever and the means to carry them out.
I would never have asked for anyone to do this for my boys, I'm just not that type of person. However, when Matt explained the situation to me and he had thought of Coy (my oldest son), I was very honored that he felt my son was deserving.
You have /will receive a thank you letter from Coy himself, but I thought I might just share a little more of the young man behind the scenes. Coy is a very considerate young man, always willing to help out others and also puts others before him self. He has a plan of what he wants to do in life, which includes serving the USA in the Marines (not 100% confirmed) when he graduates from high school. And, although he does complain occasionally, he puts his family first and really does try to be a positive role model.
This past year has been especially tough. I was unable to do anything for him for his birthday, and only 4 days later we had to put our dog, his best friend of 14 years, down. This won't bring our beloved family member back, but it will leave a very positive memory of this year etched in his mind, and the minds of my other two sons, forever!
Thank you to everyone who participated in creating these everlasting memories! Thank you for the showing that even when the world seems to be getting worse there are upstanding citizens from near and far that do make it a better place to live. I will never be able to thank you for all of your generosity you have shown towards my family, but I will do my best to make sure they grow up to be upstanding citizens like all of you have proven to be.
Sincerely,
Tamara
The second recipient of the "Deserving Youth" project has been awarded. Awaiting pictures as the young lad's father will pick-up the tacticool .22LR when he returns from Afghanistan within the next couple weeks.
We're still accepting nominations. The "Deserving Youth" project has two more rifles and lots of gear and equipment (scopes, binoculars, ammunition, knife, back-packs, etc.) to award. :biggrin:
I dont know the whole story on the youths being mentioned, but I got to say, this has got to be one of the best things to ever happen to them. Bless their hearts.
A huge kudos to you Fos and everyone that is involved in this. :congrats:
:highclap: :highclap: :highclap:Nice job Fos!!!
Your generosity shines through again Fo's. :bowingsmilie: You are the man and I applaud you. :congrats:
Pat
Very cool ! :yoyo: :bowingsmilie:
Not much I can add that the others haven't said. Proud to call you a friend FOs. You all certainly made a mark on that young man and his family. :congrats:
Dave
Very nice FO!! :yoyo: :yoyo:
Gentlemen, much obliged. However, I'm just one small cog in the grand scheme in assisting these families.
Again, I implore the FnF membership. If you know a deserving young lad or lass, please do NOT hesitate to contact me via PM to submit their name.
Fos,
I have said it before, but it needs to be said again. You are doing great things for youth. You have said that there are others involved in this project, but I am pretty sure that you have ridden solo on several other similar projects. Every project needs a leader and I think that you are probably the leader in this one as well. For all of this, I commend you.
It also has to be a great feeling when gifts like these are appreciated by not only the recipient, but also the parent. You will probably never know what a difference this will make in Coy's life. Things like this can have a tremendous effect on people's lives.
So once again, THANKS for all that you are doing.
Jerry
Fos,
WOW!! What you are doing is AWESOME!!
Jim
The second recipient of the "Deserving Youth" project has been awarded and in receipt! Additional pictures to follow at a later date....
QuoteIt's time for another thank you in this GREAT thread! I took Timothy to pick up the Sig 522 from FOsteology on Saturday. He was completely surprised, and not sure how to handle the sudden good fortune! I explained to him that there are some truly good people out there who are very supportive of soldiers, and their families. I told him that some of those people had chosen to do something nice for him, in appreciation for his sacrifice - that of going without his dad for long periods of time due to deployments.
It was right about then that Timothy and I both had a sudden attack of allergies, causing our eyes to water up. Funny how that happens occasionally.
So I thank you - from the bottom of my heart: FOsteology for the rifle, MallardAddict for the sling and MurphysLaw for the ammo. The sling is on, and Timothy loves the fact that he can carry his 522 like I carry my M4. I let him choose his own ammo, only advising him to buy different brands and types at first so he can find out what works best in his rifle. He chose a brick of Winchester white box, some Remington bulk HPs, and 100 rounds of CCI stingers. (I had a little influence on those as well - always been my favorite hunting round in .22 LR.)
Timothy is a very happy young man, and we're leaving tomorrow on a family camping trip. We're taking his new rifle, and he'll get to shoot it on the trip. I'll make sure to get plenty of pics to share. Here's a scanned copy of a thank - you note penned by Timothy, and a pic of him with the rifle in the gun shop:
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/Toyuzu/Photography%20fun/Timothythankyounote001.jpg)
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/Toyuzu/Photography%20fun/IMG_0005.jpg)
We're still soliciting names as we have at present, two more rifles with goodies to award and distribute.
:congrats: :yoyo: :highclap: Thats just wayyyyyyyyyyyyy cool. Congrats Timothy
Thats some good reading.
Put my name in the hat,...I think you got my address :innocentwhistle: :biggrin:
Congratulations Timothy!!!! You just HAVE to love a hand written Thank You note like that!!!!
HEY FOs!!!!!! And to whoever else is involved,, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! :yoyo: :yoyo:
We're still soliciting names as we have at present, two more rifles with goodies to award and distribute.
Surely someone here knows of a deserving young boy or girl that may not otherwise have an opportunity to hunt this year.
Fos thats AWESOME!!!!!! Looks like some happy faces to me.. I always enjoyed helping the less fortunate through tough times. I got into the wheeling sportsmans banquet that we use to have around here. I helped with assisting them to the blinds to hunt and with the banquet. I got to meet alot of great people through this and one year my wife and i gave away an additional shotgun along with what the NWTF donated. If you need any assistance or gear for these youth just shoot me a PM. Id be glad to help out anyway i could.