The 2016 Inaugural Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut Sporting Clays Tournament attracted 80 shooters and tremendous club support last September at Fairfield County Fish & Game Protective Association in Monroe, Connecticut. Through sponsorships, entry fees and generous bidding for auction items, funds were raised to help support the construction of a new Ronald McDonald House in New Haven, Connecticut. NSSF also was a sponsor at a sporting clays shoot at Ten Mile River Preserve in Dover Plains, New York benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Hudson Valley.
“We are extremely proud as an organization and as an industry to assist Kids & Clays in making these fundraising events a success,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti. “What a good feeling it is to be part of efforts that support the important services Ronald McDonald House Charities provides to children and their families. We want more people to know about both Kids & Clays and Ronald McDonald House.”
Sanetti noted that industry’s longstanding concern for children is shown also by NSSF’s Project ChildSafe program, whose free firearm safety kits containing a gun lock and safety brochure encourage the secure storage of firearms when not in use.
Ronald McDonald Houses across the country serve as a “home away from home” for children and families during treatment at nearby hospitals and healthcare facilities. The goal is to not only provide close access to medical care, but to also keep families close together during such challenging times.
“NSSF continues to make a very large difference in the lives of many within and outside of the shooting sports industry,” said Doug Jeanneret, Executive Director of the Kids & Clays Foundation. “Countless families and their critically ill children are benefiting from their support.”
The Kids & Clays Foundation makes possible a national series of charity sporting clays events that benefit critically ill children and their families. Many generous sponsors from both the firearms industry and outside it help make Kids & Clays’ events a success.
From humble beginnings in 1999 when Glenn and Kathy Lubeznik, McDonald’s owner/operators in Northwest Indiana, chaired the first annual Sporting Clays Tournament Event generating $16,000 to benefit the Chicago Ronald McDonald House, Kids & Clays has expanded and to date has raised more than $15 million through sporting clays, trap and skeet events while also raising awareness of the important service Ronald McDonald House Charities provides.
