Jasmyne Ray
Rick and Carol Clark are the presidents of the Central Alabama chapter of Kidz Outdoors
Last year, Kidz Outdoors was one of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce’s Diamond Award winners and left many chamber members curious to learn more about the organization. At the Nov. 1 chamber luncheon, Kidz Outdoors helped them do just that.
“The outreach that they do for kids, kids maybe with disabilities or kids who are having hard luck, I think is just huge,” Jackie Gardner, 2018 board chair for the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce, said. “The life experiences that they’re giving to children that they won’t get anywhere else is life changing.”
Per their website, Kidz Outdoors Inc. works to raise money for different organizations and hospitals that focus their efforts on childhood cancer and disease research through donations, sponsorship and outdoor events “with the goal of getting our youth into the outdoors.”
Their events are centered around adult-monitored activities like deer and turkey hunts. The organization gives disabled children, as well as those who would be otherwise unable to have the opportunity, the chance to get outside in nature, see animals in the wild and hunt. Annual events that the organization holds include deer, turkey and wild boar hunting, as well as fishing tournaments.
Although it is Kidz Outdoors, representatives from the organization, Carol and Rick Clark, say that it’s mainly about helping those who have special needs — mentioning that they’ve taken individuals as old as 52 out on hunts.
“We do camping when the weather is good,” Rick said. “Sometimes we go roast marshmallows. Anything in the outdoors. Shooting slingshots. We do a lot of really fabulous hunting trips.”
The organization, which has six chapters in six states, has many different fundraisers, particularly during the summer months. Carol recalled one fundraising event at Soggy Bottom Lodge where almost 2,000 people were in attendance.
“Most of these children would never have the opportunity to hunt or fish,” Carol said. “A lot of them have to have apparatuses. They would never have the opportunity, or wouldn’t even know that the opportunity was available.”
The Clarks said they’ve seen many children not be able to even hold an animal because of their various health conditions. It’s thanks to certain apparatuses, like pushing a button or squeezing a bulb, that they’re able to do what other children can do.
Though the organization serves a large audience, there are only six chapters of Kidz Outdoors in the country.
“We’re staying slow to make sure that our chapter presidents are properly trained, that God has called them and that they’re in it for the right reason; not that it’s a pat on their back to make them look good,” Carol said.
For more information about Kidz Outdoors, visit their website at www.kidzoutdoors.org.
