Pheasants Forever and Army Reserve Officers Support Wa-Hi JROTC

The Walla Walla High School Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (JROTC) has 2 competitive shooting teams that have been nationally ranked for over a decade.  Made up of the top 15 to 20 shooting athletes in the program, the teams travel to attend up to 20 competitive rifle matches each year. To that end, travel expenses and other equipment needs present a continual financial need.

Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever (BMPF) has supported the JROTC during their annual fundraiser for many years by purchasing a shotgun for raffle, selling tickets, and donating 100 percent of the proceeds to supplement the JROTC rifle team’s budget.

Funds raised by BMPF, Walla Walla’s Army Reserve Organization of America (ROA), and other local donors, are placed in an endowment set up with Midway USA in 2012. Midway USA matches the funds raised, and the JROTC is able to withdraw up to five percent of the endowment each year for equipment, ammunition, team travel, and competition registration fees. The JROTC 2021 endowment payout was over $8,000, said JROTC Instructor and Rifle Team Coach, Mark Mebes.   

In a normal year, varsity shooters can expect to receive invitations to shoot in local, regional and national matches in as many as eight different states, Mark said. Preliminary match results suggest invitation to national-level matches this coming summer in Ohio, Alabama, or Michigan.

Each year at the BMPF fundraiser banquet, the JROTC presents the flags, a cadet occasionally sings the National Anthem, followed by the Captain of the rifle team delivering a summary of the prior year use of the Midway USA endowment funds. “This amounts to a rifle team ‘state of the union’ address of sorts.” Mark said. It’s an exceptional public speaking experience that team Captains consider a part of their job, proudly reviewing the team’s accomplishments from the past year. It also informs the community of how their donations supported the team.   

The BMPF 2021 fundraiser banquet, typically held the last Saturday in February, was cancelled due to the pandemic. Not only did the JROTC Captain miss their opportunity to address the community, it seemed JROTC raffle ticket sales may not fare as well as usual, but BMPF was not the only non-profit affected by the pandemic this year. The ROA typically supports the JROTC as well, and when their typical fundraising efforts were impacted, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Morris reached out to BMPF to join forces.

Together, BMPF and ROA sold 548 raffle tickets and received additional donations, raising a total of $3,000 for the JROTC’s Midway USA endowment. BMPF’s concurrent 10-gun raffle in lieu of the annual banquet was also wildly successful. Thanks to passionate BMPF and ROA members for their efforts, and the strong support of the community for the fundraiser successes.

Community support has been foundational to each of these organizations over the years, and BMPF relies on membership support. With the cancellation of BMPF’s 2021 banquet, many memberships have not been renewed. To keep in the loop on youth and family hunting and shooting opportunities, memberships can be renewed with Tami Wass at bmpfbanquetchair@gmail.com.