Youth Outdoor Unlimited making dreams come true for children with disabilities

MOSES LAKE — It was a different town, different place with the hustle and bustle of golf carts racing by, but it was the same world of darkness Maegan Weiler has learned to live in for the past seven years.

The 14-year-old West Valley High school student from Yakima lost her sight to eye cancer and the treatment seven years ago. It’s been an adjustment as you might imagine, but with the help of friends and family, she’s taking on life and its new challenges with a smile and a new found confidence.

Weiler was in town on Saturday to support the third annual Youth Outdoor Unlimited benefit golf tournament at the Moses Lake Golf Club. She just smiled and shook her head at the suggestion of hitting a few golf balls on the driving range as the golfers warmed up behind her. But she did have a story to tell about the bear she bagged on the Quinault Reservation 45 miles north of Hoquiam as part of the YOU organization’s program to give children with disabilities the opportunity to experience the outdoors through hunting and fishing.

The one thing she did learn from her bear hunt experience is patience. She and her father Matt sent 34 hours over three days in a blind waiting for their chance to hunt a black bear. The Marlin 308 rifle she was using was strapped into a tripod and set up with a camera in the scope. Her guide served as the spotter while she controlled the rifle with a joystick. It’s all electronic; when it came time to take the shot, her guide said when and she fired.

“I like all kinds of hunting, but mostly I like being outside with my friends and family,” she said. “I like being outside, not being cooped up. I notice the smell of places first, say like on the Quinault there was a lot of rain. It smelled different than our forests near Yakima. It didn’t smell like pine, there were different trees.

The Youth Outdoors Unlimited organization provides fully funded and guided dream adventures for physically challenged children. Expenses are covered with fundraising efforts like the golf tournament at the Moses Lake Golf Club.

“We individualize each trip,” YOU director Cindy Carpenter said. “We want to make sure that each trip is about one kid and not the group.”

They generally run about $10,000 per trip, but through the generous fundraising projects it makes it possible to make a dream come true.

The acronym for the organization is YOU, but it ought to be something more along the lines of FAMILY, Maegan’s father Matt said.

“Hunting is a family tradition. It’s our heritage,” he explained. “This was a real father-daughter experience that makes our bond stronger. Big city people have lost touch with where they came from, where their ancestors came from. But family has always been important to us. Her brother, myself and grandpa always hunt together. So this was something special we could do together and he meant a lot to us.”

Hunting and fishing is as much a part of the western heritage and the great outdoors itself. YOU is making it possible for children and their families to enjoy and share their story of strength with others.

The golf fundraiser at the Moses Lake Golf Club involved 14 teams and 56 golfers pitching in to raise money for a good cause. The 2016 YOU raffle is Oct. 7 at Tri-State Outfitters in Moses Lake. The raffle includes a Smith & Wesson M&P 10 308 with Vortex optics package, including binoculars, rangefinder and spotting scope. The winner can receive all four items or opt for $1,000 in cash.

For more information contact Carpenter at 509-431-1604 or go to www.youthoutdoorsu.org.