Being a life member of the NRA, I enjoy not getting a bill every year for dues. I am hit up now and again for donations to NRA-ILA, and I do donate because they are the 600 lb. gorilla in the room and they do help in the political and legislative arenas. One thing that some of you may not know is another area where the NRA helps…youth shooting programs. This is where the Friends of the NRA comes in. To raise funds, they hold annual dinners where they auction off and raffle prized that have been donated or bought at a discount . . .
I attended my local banquet where there was a live auction for premium items,
along with a silent auction for the lower ticket goods along with bucket raffles for other donated items. There were plenty of opportunities to buy books of raffle tickets and drop them in the bucket next to the item you had your eye on.
The dinner that preceded the live auction was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, and meet new ones.
The profits generated by these banquets go to some very worthwhile causes. Still having trouble finding .22 lr? Well, the FriendsofNRA.org buys plenty. They feed the guns that help teach our future generations gun safety, marksmanship, and how to be ethical hunters.
Speaking of hunting, I helped get a few African Safaris on the auction block.
The monies generated do not go to the NRA-ILA, to pay the salaries of NRA employees, or any political activities. It all goes towards shooting ranges and shooting programs for the most part. While the money you spend on dinner tickets gets you a really nice meal, (we had prime rib at ours), and a door prize ticket, other cash you spend on raffle tickets go to developing future shooters.
So if you see one of these dinners in your area, think about attending. They are very worthwhile. And who knows, maybe you can be the high bidder on a Ted Nugent autographed Fender Strat!
This happens to be a triple whammy, Uncle Ted made the Guiness Book for autographing a bunch of these. One will be at every Friends of the NRA auction/banquet around the country. So not only will you own a working guitar, it’s signed by a true sportsman/rockstar, and it’s a piece of Guiness history.
Think of the future of our sport. Do it for you. Do it for them. Remember, if it saves the life of one child….
For the children!
I’m looking forward to one near me in a couple weeks.
“This happens to be a triple whammy, Uncle Ted made the Guiness Book for autographing a bunch of these.”
Yeah, unfortunately, there is no such thing as a rare guitar autographed by the ‘Nuge’…
Best luck on the other auctions for the organization.
LOL
Del Norte Friends of NRA dinner was a couple weeks ago.
The signed Nugent guitar is not a Fender, but a Stratocaster knock off.
Fender probably not on the Cal. Not Unsafe Guitar Roster.
Good event and fun though.
FNRA is great! About 2 months ago I won a raffle for a brick of .22LR and donated it to the local Appleseed folks.
Good article. I’ve seen some of these in Orange County. I’ll eventually go to one.
Let me get this straight, Tom. You’re a Life member and don’t get bills for dues anymore? Who do you know? I am a Benefactor member, and get requests several times a year to upgrade yet again. Every time I send a couple hundred to ILA, I get a request for more by return mail. I think they invent new levels every time I upgrade, just to have something else to tease me with. This last upgrade got me a rolling duffel bag with the NRA logo on it, should work good in the back seat of my convertible, which effectively has no trunk. Whoopee!
The NRA is having a big dinner in my neck of the woods here in Central CA. Only problem is its 60 bucks ahead. Seems a bit pricey to me. I could understand 20 bucks, but 60? I wish they would keep in mind that some of us 2nd Amendment lovers don’t have that sort of scratch around. Oh well…