Helping others make dreams come true

[olefish_99]

There are lots of ways to help others make dreams come true, and maybe even to build new dreams. Find out if there is a kid that does not have a hunting parent, take a senior out that needs support, and look to helping disabled persons. We will help to ensure our hunting heritage by helping others understand why we are so in love with what we do, hunting and fishing. I take 4 disabled hunters each fall on a ranch north of Douglas WY. They have to provide everything but a gun and food on there own. The rancher has become like a brother and looks forward to this hunt every year. I am not some grand guy but just some body that decided sharing was part of what I personally need to do. There is a group that you can help if you want and it is called HUNT OF A LIFE TIME. It has taken on the role that the Make Wish Foundation left when they stopped including hunting as part of there program. I am lplanning on helping them with a hunt if they find someone wanting that type of service. Contact www.huntofalifetime.org or if you need it toll free: 1-866-345-4455 TINA Olefish

 

[GatoMan]

Thats great what your doing, what was it a couple yrs back when the Make a Wish Foundation took alot of heat from the anti-hunters for trying to create a bear hunt for a kid?? Its good to see people do what your doing

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GatoMan

 

[1_pointer]

The Make-A-Wish Foundation won't take kids on hunting trips, but they will fund Fishing Trips!!! I don't get it.

 

[olefish_99]

HERE IS SOME MORE INFO ON THE HUNT OF A LIFE TIME PROGRAM
The Story of Matthew Pattison
(Reprint of an article in Four Corners Outdoors)

Hunt of a Lifetime
Nonprofit group seeks to fulfill kids' dreams

By Darren Marcy
Four Corners Outdoors

Filling in a void left by another national wish-granting group, a Pennsylvania organization is sending seriously-ill children on dream hunts and fishing trips.

Hunt of a Lifetime is relatively new to the world of wish granting. But its impact is being felt across the country, and it seems as if hunters and anglers can't wait to step up and help.

Wanted: A moose hunt

In March 1998, Matthew Pattison wanted to hunt moose in Canada. The 18-year-old suffered from Hodgkin's disease, and his parents new he didn't have the luxury of waiting until they could afford such a hunt.

Matthew's stepmother, Tina Pattison, called the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but due to heavy anti-hunting pressure and a lot of press over previous hunting wishes the organization had funded, it chose to no longer pay for youngsters to go on hunts.

But Tina and Matthew's father, Chet, were determined to send their son on a moose hunt.
After dozens of phone calls and lots of personal favors, Matthew got to go on his moose hunt.

Home of big hearts

A Pennsylvania man put Tina in touch with a Wyoming hunt broker. The man had contacted an Alberta, Canada, outfitter who had agreed to guide the youth on a moose hunt for free. On top of that, the small town of Nordegg, Alberta, turned itself upside down to help.

Despite the town having only 68 residents, Matt had everything paid for: air fare, a helicopter ride in and out, stock and feed, the camp and food, licenses and fees, a satellite phone in case of a medical emergency and meat processing and shipping.

A nurse even took a week off from work to stay at the camp in case an accident occurred because Matt's blood had lost its clotting capabilities from the chemotherapy doses.

We're going up there this summer so I can thank them personally, Tina Pattison said.
And Matt got his moose with a 56-inch spread in October 1998, one month after his birthday.

He died the following spring April 28, 1999 of heart and liver failure.

He was 19 years old.

Something to look forward to

Tina said the final year of Matt's life was hard. His body was losing the battle and the ravages of Hodgkin's was taking its toll. But the final year of his life the pain that racked his body wasn't as bad as it could have been. He had a moose hunt he was looking forward to.

He kept saying, I'll be all right because I'm going on that moose hunt, Tina said.

Matt had hunted with his father since he was little, and the Pattisons loved to hunt, fish and camp. The moose hunt was the last thing he wanted to do, and his parents had fought to give Matt his final wish.

But many kids with a serious or terminal illness don't have that option.

In fact, Matt almost didn't get his wish. The first effort netted a hunt set for September 1999, five months after he died. Now, the Pattisons are glad they kept pushing and are grateful they found Nordegg and others involved in the trip.

Planning for the future

At the funeral, many people gave money to the Pattisons and asked it go to a charity in Matt's name. Tina and Chet couldn't think of a better way than to help Matt's name live on in the form of an organization that helped young people like him.

Hunt of a Lifetime was born in August 1999 when an attorney, donating her time, drew up papers for the nonprofit organization. It's been a rollercoaster ride since then for the Pattisons. They've had their story told in national magazines, newspapers and on the Internet.
Money started coming in from hunters across the United States.

The fact the fledgling organization was using the Pattison's home computer drew a check from a man who told them not to get a cheap one.

Hunt of a Lifetime isn't yet a year old, and it's already sent one kid on a white-tailed deer hunt.

That's the story Tina calls A Christmas Present from God.

She said she got a call on Christmas eve saying a 14-year-old in Wisconsin had missed the last two seasons with a brain tumor and all he wanted for Christmas was to go deer hunting. Two days later Tina had a hunt arranged and Jan. 15 the youth killed an 8-pointer.

Hunts are in the works for bear and moose right now.

An overwhelming response

Funds, so far, haven't been a problem.

Once the story got out, donations started coming in. Two checks for $1,000 have been sent.

Mail-order giant Cabela's weighed in with a check, the Pennsylvania Game Commission sent $2,500. Lots of people have sent $5 and $10.

One man sent $300 and said his son died two days before his 18th birthday. The man told Tina his favorite memories are of the two of them hunting together.

The Pattisons have dozens of similar stories.

Outfitters started calling offering free trips. Fishing trips like the pro bass angler who said between him and his sponsors a kid could show up and have the fishing trip of a lifetime, all expenses paid. Hunting trips for elk, deer, turkey, duck, goose, caribou, moose and bear are all awaiting a needy kid.

One hunter called and said he had a fully-paid-for weeklong package featuring caribou, black bear and fishing near Montreal valued at $8,000. He said he was going to stay home with his two daughters and the next kid that wanted to go caribou hunting would have it all paid for.
Another man called from Bristol, Fla., and told Tina his son was totally disabled and would never be able to go hunting with him. He offered to take a kid on a fully-guided alligator hunt with lodging provided every year as long as they wanted.

People from across the country are donating frequent flyer miles, and a travel agent volunteered to set up the accounts to help get free airline tickets.

At a recent outdoor show, Tina underestimated the number of fliers she needed and printed only 1,500. Early Saturday, she sent her son to get another 4,000 printed with a blank check. Her son returned with the flyers and check.

The man wouldn't take our money, Tina said.

While at the show, a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation brought a print from his own collection over and told Tina to raffle it off for funds. At last count she had sold $350 worth of raffle tickets.

The response is just overwhelming, Tina said, before breaking down and sobbing. You don't realize how many wonderful people are out there.

Wanted: Kids with wishes

Tina said donations are welcome, but the big thing right now is getting the word out and letting people know the organization exists. Boys or girls, ages 12 to 21, with a life-threatening, critical or terminal illness are accepted.

Tina said Make-A-Wish and two other wish-granting organizations have said they will refer hunting requests to Hunt of a Lifetime.

She said she understands Make-A-Wish's hands were tied by the anti-hunting groups, which she holds responsible.

I'm more upset with animal-rights activists who can't think of a child's needs before their own beliefs. Not every child wants to go to Disney World.

Wish kids are encouraged to call for information.

We need to find the kids.

Into the future

Nobody knows for sure what is in store for Hunt of a Lifetime. Tina and Chet are prepared to ride the organization into national prominence, and that shouldn't prove hard.

People in four states, including a man from Bosque Farms here in New Mexico, already have volunteered to form chapters in those states.

Hunt of a Lifetime is registered as a nonprofit in Pennsylvania, and a lawyer is donating time to file paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service for national status.

In the meanwhile, Tina is a hot commodity on the outdoor speakers tour. She's constantly taking time off from her job as a bus driver to catch up on work for the nonprofit and to tell her story to sportsman's organizations.

When she's not telling her story, she's on the phone lining up outfitters, guides and others and filling her contacts list for future wishes she hopes to be granting soon.

Want to help?

The best thing to help is to keep spreading the word, Tina said. Get the organization out there and get the story told.

Help the kids who are in need of such a hunt to find the organization and help those who can provide the services know they are needed.

Information: (814) 899-5682; (800) 484-4948, pin: 0862; or write: Hunt of a Lifetime, 6297 Buffalo Road, Harborcreek, PA 16421. The toll free number costs Hunt of a Lifetime 15 cents per minute.



(Darren Marcy is the outdoor editor at The Daily Times in Farmington, N.M., where this story originally appeared. He can be reached at [email protected].)

HOW TO HELP
The Hunt of a Lifetime nonprofit charity arranges and pays for dream hunting and fishing trips for boys and girls 12-21 with a life threatening, critical or terminal disease or sickness.

The group accepts donations of money and services. Donating "frequent flyer" miles to help pay a youth's airfare is popular.

To make a donation, to request a trip or for more information, write:



Hunt of a Lifetime
6297 Buffalo Road
Harborcreek, PA 16421
or call:
1-814-899-5682

1-800-484-4948

(PIN number 0862)

 

[DKO]

i saw this and thought it was appropriate for this topic:

Young Hunters' Wishes Can Come True, After All
Monday, January 22, 2001 By Robert Shaffer

YREKA, Calif. — When Zachary Martin, a 16-year-old boy diagnosed with bone cancer, made his wish, it almost didn't come true.

"I wanted to go on a hunt," he said, and asked the Make-a-Wish foundation for just that. "But I asked them to go to a couple of places like Alaska or something, but they said they couldn't grant any hunts."

Make-a-Wish, a Phoenix-based group that has answered the dreams of 3,000 children with life-threatening illnesses since 1980, banned hunting and shooting trips beginning Jan. 1.

Safety of the children was the reason, said Make-a-Wish spokesman Jim Maggio. The group has not banned fishing.

"When you take into consideration the fact that the child may have been weakened by the effects of that life-threatening illness, and all the treatment protocols and medications that may accompany that — it's simply too great a risk to the safety of that child than we're willing to assume," he said.

But Zachary's story should have a happy ending, thanks to a rock star and an organization that fills wishes that Make-a-Wish will not. In July, Zachary will bow hunt zebra and other game with former rock star Ted Nugent in South Africa.

Hunt of a Lifetime, a group formed two years ago to grant hunting dreams that its more famous counterpart will not, has sponsored the trip.

Nugent doesn't believe the Make-a-Wish Foundation when they say safety is why they won't take children hunting. The boy's mother, father and doctors have all given permission for Zachary to go hunting, he said.

"Somebody at the Make-a-Wish Foundation knows better than those people?" he said. "I think not."

Zachary, who grew up on a ranch in rural northern California, said he's not angry at Make-a-Wish, but conceded he was a little disappointed.

"I've been hunting since I was a little kid and I always enjoyed it," he said. "Just the outdoor thrill and the spirit."

The trip to South Africa gives him something to look forward to after recent surgery, said Tammy Martin, Zachary's mother. Her son, whose cancer is terminal, has only a 20-30 percent chance of recovery. Her son was taught hunting by his uncles and passed a hunter safety course, she said.

Hunting is not dangerous, she maintained.

"I can see the point of view of people who live in the city who've never seen hunting," she said. "But I still think it's a safe sport and a good sport, and people should just be more open to different things."

Nugent, who in his rock star days was known as the "Motor City Madman," is less diplomatic. The founder of United Sportsmen of America is also a critic of gun control laws.

"Political correctness, in its gutting process of the human soul, has actually penetrated this heart and soul organization," he said of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

The group has been criticized for past hunts. Animal rights organizations complained to the foundation in 1996 after it fulfilled a Minnesota teenager's dream to hunt bear in Alaska.

But hunting is similar to fishing, Nugent maintains.

"Last time I checked, your tuna salad is dead," he said. "Fishing, hunting and trapping are all the same and it is the proper and scientifically sound utilization of natural resources. Hunting is not only honorable and essential, but it's probably the last pure function that a living being can be part of. It's birth, life and death."

Hunting is not teaching children to kill, he said.

"Mankind knows all about killing. We have to eat. Meat is food," he said.

For Zachary, he's just excited to get past surgery, and is looking forward to his July hunt to Africa. Nugent, who is known best for songs like "Cat Scratch Fever" and more recently as a member of the band **** Yankees, is a favorite of Zachary's.

"I've hardly been out of California," Zachary said. "I'll recover, hopefully pretty fast, and start shooting the bow again."


olefish, my hats off to all you guys fighting to fulfill the dreams of those less fortunate!!!!!

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Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison

 

[Terry aka Coydog]

Touching story. Ted is the man!!! This topic made my day. It is a great day to be alive!!

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Live to Hunt-Terry aka Coydog.