Bob Manley's Friends of the NRA Foundation takes aim at fundraising
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Steve Vreeland addresses dinner attendees at the 18th annual National Rifle Association Foundation fundraiser, Saturday at the Boundary County Fairgrounds.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS A Ruger 10mm raffle item.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Attendee, Kevin Tobin, looks over the auction items.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Kootenai River Inn Casino’s Springs Restaurant and Lounge Head Chef, John Fitzgerald, serving prime rib.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Attendees place their raffle tickets to try for the item of their choice.
BONNERS FERRY — The 18th annual fundraiser on behalf of the National Rifle Association Foundation, was held this past Saturday evening on Sept. 14, and was a tribute to longtime local supporter, Bob Manley.
The event has had a recent name change from Panhandle Friends of the NRA to Bob Manley’s Friends of the NRA to honor the efforts and community support that Manley was well known for in Boundary County.
The event was full of chances to win a firearm, among other prizes.
“Everyone has gun free zones now, our dinner is the free gun zone,” stated the foundation’s committee chairman, Gary Leonard.
Attendees had the unique opportunity to win any number of approximately 50 firearms by way of raffles and a live auction.
Other raffle and auction items were available as well such as Front Sight’s Commander Level Life Membership, a few vacation packages to Mexico and the Caribbean, and an African Safari trip which did not garner interest from the crowd.
The 150 ticketed sold out dinner, catered by the Kootenai River Inn Casino’s Springs Restaurant and Lounge, and supervised by Head Chef, John Fitzgerald, was held at the Boundary County Fairgrounds.
Attendees were treated to an open bar, salmon and prime rib, with an assortment of sides and dessert.
The Bob Manley’s Friends of the NRA Foundation sponsored the event with the objective to raise money for available grants to local nonprofit groups.
“All of the money raised at this event goes to grants,” explained Steve Vreeland, NRA Field Representative and the dinner’s Master of Ceremonies.
Vreeland stated, “No politicians get money from the foundation. All of the support goes to non-political programs of the NRA.”
Programs that receive grants from the foundation are: 4-H Shooting Sports clubs, NRA Youth Education Summit, Boy Scouts programs, local range programs, NRA women’s hunting programs, the Refuse to be a Victim program, NRA Eddie Eagle Gunsafe program, police competitions, and NRA competitive shooting sports to name a few.
“There are a total of 21 of these fundraising events in Idaho that have raised $413,000 for Idaho programs,” said Vreeland.
Fifty percent of the money raised is slated for local in state programs and the other 50 percent goes towards national projects.
Duke’s Claybusters, the Bonners Ferry High School Trapshooting Club, received a grant check during this year’s dinner accepted by Tom Daniel, representative for the club.
Gary Leonard, the local chairman for Bob Manley’s Friends of the NRA, is the contact for grant applications.
“If local groups would like to apply, they can get a hold of me, we have a few more months to go until they are due,” Leonard stated.
The Friends of the NRA arm of the organization, has been in operation since 1992. They have held approximately 22,000 events, with around 4.1 million attendees and are reported to have raised more than $850 million for the non-profit Foundation.
For information on the Foundation or grant application call Chairman Gary Leonard 208-946-9579.