WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
16 UCW MARCH 16 - 22, 2022
e Cape Fear Friends of NRA
will celebrate their 30th anniver-
sary with their Annual Banquet
and Auction next week.
Cape Fear Friends of NRA con-
nects with the national Friends of
NRA program which has raised
over one billion dollars for the Na-
tional Rifle Association of America
Foundation. at foundation has
funded over 56,000 grants in con-
nection to the support of shooting
sports. Each year, the local non-
profit organization uses 100% of
the money raised at the Annual
Banquet and Auction event to
support local shooting sports and
award grants for firearm safety
programs.
Tony Forte, the Chairmen of the
CFFNRA committee, said their
organization has helped several
local organizations, and one of
their significant commitments
is gun safety and gun education
programs.
ose programs include 4-H, the
scouts, sharpshooter clubs and
Fayetteville's Operation Ceasefire.
"e firearms community is
growing fast. Over 13 million guns
were sold in the United States last
year; five million of them are new
shooters. at's part of the audi-
ence we're trying to reach out to,"
Forte said. "Education safety is
key."
e Friends of NRA national
organization has raised over a bil-
lion dollars for education, specifi-
cally for kids. $150,000 has been
raised locally over the past six
years.
e banquet event is a family-
friendly affair with some edu-
cational programs, but mainly
it's for people to come together
and learn about what the Cape
Fear Friends of NRA does. ey
will also be hosting raffles and
auctions. e auction items will
include firearms, sporting goods,
equipment, ammunition and
artwork.
Forte says that they expect well
over 200 people to be at the event.
He says this may be the best year
so far. He hopes to raise at least
$25,000 by the end of the event.
"Our next real milestone would
be to double that. We're going to
try to do it incrementally," Forte
said. 'So $25,000, that's where
we've been comfortable in good
times and bad."
Looking towards the future,
Forte says they would like to plan
an event or help co-sponsor a
women's target event in the fall.
"Women are dominating the
shooting sports now," Forte said.
"ere's no reason anyone has an
advantage over another person
other than something they have:
vision, motor coordination and
motor skills. Men and women
are equal on the playing field in
shooting sports. As women dis-
covered, shooting sports today are
really changing our world, and it's
really exciting to see."
e Annual Banquet and Auc-
tion will be held on March 24 at
Paradise Acres of Grays Creek,
located at 1965 John McMillan
Road, in Hope Mills. e ban-
quet will kick off at 6 p.m. Ticket+
prices are $45 for singles and
$80 for doubles. Tickets can be
purchased online at www.friend-
sofnra.org/eventtickets/Events/
Details/34?eventId=58633.
HANNAH LEE, Assistant Editor.
COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin-
gweekly.com. 910-484-6200.
EVENT
NRA event to raise money
for gun safety programs
by HANNAH LEE
"Fayetteville's Choice for Custom Firearms"
4
th
Anniversary
Celebration
Upcoming
April 2022
(910) 988-0097
www.therockguns.com
6113 Yadkin Road, Fayetteville NC
