Westernbass Magazine - June 2012, Page 36

Westernbass Magazine - June 2012, Page 36

GiViNG BAcK

was most certainly proud of how the event went down, that wasn’t even the most important part of the day for reese. reese said he had thought of doing Kids day events for as much as 10 years before doing the first one in 2011. He said that he has always had fond remembrances of catching his first fish when he was a child and it was the excitement of that fish that fueled him to want to do it more. His desire for the Kids Fishing days he and his family have put on the last two years was about the fundraiser, but even more importantly; for him personally, it was about sharing his love of fishing with kids. in each event, there were reports of multiple kids that had caught their first fish, and with each mention, the look of emotion and satisfaction would wash over reese’s face. to him, the thought of any of those children growing up with fishing as a part of their lives because of that first fish was more important than any dollar amount earned towards any donation.

Randy Howell, an Elite Series pro from Springville, Ala. has been involved with a ministry called The King’s Home for the past two years.

The King’s Home is for abused, abandoned and neglected kids. The campus is set up with single family homes where the kids are given a place to live amongst a family instead of dorm style orphanages. as a part of the program, Howell’s triton / Mercury package is used as a raffle prize as a fundraiser for the King’s Home program. tickets are sold at $100 a piece throughout the season and at the end of the elite Series schedule, the boat is raffled off to a winner and the proceeds are given to King’s Home. in 2011, the program raised over $90,000. But, like so many anglers, fishing is at the heart of the promotion. Howell organized several fishing rodeos throughout the year as a part of the program that got kids outside and fishing, when they would likely be sitting inside with their hands wrapped around a fishing rod instead of a video game controller.

Another event is happening in 2012 that involves Kevin VanDam. Vandam has partnered with the detroit lions professional football team to put on a charity tournament June 12, 2012. Vandam and the lions each have their own charities that they will be funding with the event. The lions have planned on continuing their work with children and youth throughout the state and Vandam will continue to support youth fishing, the March of dimes and other child related organizations. But, at the heart of the whole thing is fishing, and while any of these organizations or individuals could have merely sat back and collected money as donations, they decided to share the love of fishing with people in their areas. it goes to show that taking a little time to give something back to the community from your heart can go a long way towards creating a new heartbeat in others. Fishing certainly needs to propagate new members of the family in order to see the family carry on, and there is no better way to do it than to share a day on the water or shore with someone you love, or someone you barely know.

We don’t even have to be top rated anglers to do it, to those kids, we might as well be the best in the world, because when we take a little time to invest in their future, the chances of them having one that involves fishing is much greater.

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