Disabled Kid's Fishing Charity

[ebadofsky]

I'm posting on behalf of the United Special Sportsmen Alliance (USSA), a grassroots, non-profit organization based in Pittsville, WI, that fulfills dream wishes for terminally ill and disabled children across the United States.

If you, your family & friends, church members or business associates know of a deserving children that would like to go on a free hunting, fishing, camping or canoeing trip, please call us, and we will do everything we can to fulfill their wishes. Our goal is to turn no child away, regardless of illness or disability (i.e. we try to match each child to the outdoor adventure most appropriate to their desires and physical limitations). Last year alone, we were successful in placing nearly 300 children on hunting and fishing trips, and we're striving to double that number in 2004. Ever since animal rights groups like PETA pressured the Make-A-Wish Foundation to stop granting hunting and fishing trips to terminally ill youngsters, we have found there is a seemingly endless void to fill.

We are also seeking fishing guides, charter boat captains, hunting lodges and shooting preserve owners willing to donate their services, as well as individual memberships to help us fund our children's trips.

We are a 501(3)© charity (i.e. all donations are tax deductible), and no one in our organization accepts financial compensation of any kind for the work we do. The reward, for us, is in the beaming faces of our kids when they've caught the biggest fish of their lives, harvested their first deer or turkey, or simply roasting marshmallows under the stars at a campsite with their family. Sadly, for many of these youngsters, these trips are the last ones they will ever make before disease steals their lives.

If you have any questions or would like to chat, please contact me at (847) 676-8424, or USSA's founder and president Brigid O'Donoghue at (800) 518-8019. Ms. O'Donoghue (herself a survivor of a life-threatening childhood illness, and one of the warmest, most giving people you'll ever meet) would also be available for an interview should you see fit to help us spread the word in print or on the air. Our new, donated web site is under construction, but you can read more about USSA at www.deerfood.com.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration, and best of luck on the water this season!

Eric Badofsky
Skokie, Illinois 60076
(847) 676-8424