Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc. Receives Grant From Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund
Wichita, KS, September 28, 2021. Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors announced today the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund has awarded a grant to Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors to further their Shooting Sports Outreach Program. Launched in Kansas in 2019, the Shooting Sports Outreach Program engages student-athletes involved in the shooting sports with hunting and fishing opportunities.
“Thanks to the generosity of Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris and the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors will be able to expand our efforts to get more youth outdoors, hunting and fishing,” stated Mike Christensen, President of Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc. “We are grateful to have an organization like the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund lending their support to our efforts.”
“In 2019, Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors kicked off the Shooting Sports Outreach Program with 89 hunts involving over 220 youth from 44 different high schools across Kansas. During the 2020 hunting seasons, we added one part-time coordinator and boosted the number of hunts to 206, engaging over 600 youth,” said Brittany French, Director of Field Operations for Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors. “For 2021, we will be using these funds to add staff and put over 300 hunts together, expanding our efforts in both Kansas and Iowa.”
Between the Scholastic Clay Target Program and the National High School Clay Target League, there are more than 40,000 high school student-athletes participating in trap shooting nationwide. The Shooting Sports Outreach Program aims to provide hunting and fishing opportunities to as many of these youth as possible.
“Almost all of these youth have taken hunter safety, they have been taught hands-on safe gun handling and have learned one of the basic skills needed to hunt,” Brittany said. “Our goal is to increase their interest and motivation to hunt by providing as many different hunting opportunities as we possibly can.”
Brittany further indicated that, “Our goals with this program are to 1) recruit new hunters by giving those who don’t currently hunt opportunities to pursue upland game, waterfowl, turkey and deer; 2) retain current hunters by giving those youth trap shooters and their parents who are currently hunters the opportunity to engage in more hunting activities; and 3) to reactivate parents and coaches who want to participate in these hunting activities. This model can be applied to numerous different cohorts in hopes to inspire others to have a passion for hunting and fishing.”
To accomplish this, Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors partners with local chapters of NGO’s, the state fish and wildlife agency and private landowners to provide access and volunteers and mentors who assist with the events.
About the Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s Outdoor Fund
Under the visionary leadership of founder Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's is leading North America's largest conservation movement. Together with our partners in conservation, we're positively shaping the future of the outdoors through donations, grant-making and advocacy. The 501c3 Outdoor Fund raises funds to support conservation efforts by activating more than 200 million passionate sportsmen and women rounding up their purchases in Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's stores and online.
About Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors
Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors is a Wichita, Kansas-based national organization dedicated to providing children with mentors who will share with them the experiences of traditional outdoor activities. The heart of the group's mission is to give children opportunities to connect with nature that they more than likely won't have without a mentor showing them the way. For more information about Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, please visit http://www.outdoormentors.org.
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