Y.O.U. brings the outdoors to kids

The Best Western in Moses Lake was a chaotic and enthusiastic scene Saturday evening, as the 7th annual Youth Outdoors Unlimited banquet and auction brought some outdoor dreams within reach.

Youth Outdoors Unlimited is devoted to enabling kids with physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses to have the same hunting and fishing experiences that other kids might take for granted.

“I had run across a group out of Mississippi that took a kid out hunting who didn’t have any legs and only one arm with one finger on it,” said founder Cindy Carpenter. “They took him hunting and he got a buck and I was just so humbled by that whole opportunity. So we started looking around and there was nothing for kids with disabilities throughout the hunting community in the state of Washington.”

Y.O.U. was formally established in 2011. Since then a growing number of kids have gotten to experience the outdoors. In 2016 17 kids went on fully-paid trips, according to Cindy’s husband Joe Carpenter, who coordinates the hunts. This year, he added, the organization has budgeted for 20 trips.

Those trips are funded entirely by donations to Y.O.U., Cindy Carpenter said. Everything is covered from training to food to licensing to taxidermy and meat preparation. Fishing trips run from one to three days and hunters are guaranteed three full days of hunting, according to Y.O.U.’s website. The organization provides the specialized outfitting to accommodate the kids’ disabilities as well, like wheelchair-accessible locations or voice-controlled equipment for a blind hunter. The only thing the kids and their families have to worry about is... well, nothing.

Of course, it takes a good deal of fundraising to make that happen, which is what Saturday’s event was all about. Roughly 160 people enjoyed the banquet and bid on a huge range of live and silent auction items. The event was emceed by Moses Lake mayor Todd Voth (with a little impromptu assistance from past Y.O.U. hunter Drake Martin) and the live auction was conducted by the lightning-tongued Craig Schafer. There were guns, knives, guided hunting and fishing trips, art works and sports tickets, as well as some more off-the-wall items like a wagon filled with adult beverages and a bottle opener made from the mounted rump of an elk. The latter item sold for more than $400.

Besides the bidders and local luminaries, some of the past participants and their families were in attendance as well. Three young hunters were presented with mounted heads as trophies of their experience. Brothers Vince and Levi Smith of Kennewick each bagged a deer and Sarah Nelson of Moses Lake came away with an elk.

“I love the hunting experience,” said Marion Balderas of Moses Lake, who uses a wheelchair and has participated in several hunts. “They helped me learn to shoot.”

While the organization has its roots in the Columbia Basin, the participants often come from farther away, which has prompted Y.O.U. to begin holding similar fundraisers in other parts of the state. On March 25 there will be another event in Yakima, followed by Spokane on April 8 and Lakewood, which is south of Tacoma, on April 15 and Pasco on Oct. 7. Between those five fundraisers, Cindy Carpenter said, Y.O.U. expects to have no difficulty covering the 20 trips being planned.

The impact Y.O.U. has on the kids goes beyond just one deer or one turkey, said Carpenter.

“Our goal has never been to take a kid out and get them an animal and send them on their way. Our deal is to get them out in the outdoors, have them gain a love for hunting and fishing, and have them continue to hunt and fish. It was fun watching these kids blossom.

“It takes the focus off the disability and puts it on the ability instead.”

Editor’s note: The print edition of this story incorrectly identified the auctioneer. It has been corrected in the online story.