Wichita, KS – Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors was recently awarded a grant from Whitetails Unlimited. These funds will be used to expand the rapidly growing Shooting Sports Outreach Program to engage participants in high school and college shooting sports in hunting activities.
Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors has been engaged in recruiting mentors for at-risk youth since its beginnings in 2002. In the second year of our new Shooting Sports Outreach Program, Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors more than doubled the number of hunts and participants from the first year of the program, fielding over 200 hunts with over 550 participants.
Brittany French, Director of Field Operations commented, “This has been a really exciting year. We have been able to show that our Shooting Sports Outreach Program can be scaled and yields the kind of results needed to create more hunters. We have athletes, volunteer mentors, and landowners flocking to us wanting to get involved.”
Russell Austad, Program Services Director for Whitetails Unlimited Inc., commented “Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors does a wonderful job introducing individuals to shooting sports and the outdoors. Our partnership is mutually beneficial.”
“One of the keys to our Shooting Sports Outreach Program model is our partnership with conservation organizations like Whitetails Unlimited who recognize that we need to cultivate new hunters as much as we need to cultivate habitat if we are going to insure the future of the North American Model of Conservation,” commented Mike Christensen, President of Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors. “We rely on the volunteers and mentors from Whitetails Unlimited and other organizations to share their love of the outdoors with all of these new hunters.”
About the Whitetails Unlimited:
Founded in 1982, Whitetails Unlimited is a national nonprofit conservation organization that has remained true to its mission and has made great strides in the field of conservation. We have gained the reputation of being the nation’s premier organization dedicating our resources to the betterment of the white-tailed deer and its environment. Whitetails Unlimited’s mission is to raise funds in support of (1) educational programs, (2) wildlife habitat enhancement and acquisition, and (3) preservation of the hunting tradition and shooting sports for future generations.
