On November 6, 2023, the Pennsylvania Chapter held its annual Sporting Clays for Kids fundraiser, at a new venue, Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays, in Coplay, Pennsylvania, just outside of Allentown. 

It was a beautiful day for the shooters, and for raising funds for a great cause. After arriving around 8:30 a.m., shooters were given a safety training session and then had a great morning on the course. Everyone was treated to a wonderful lunch, followed by the awards presentations.

This year's event generated over $27,000 in donations from sponsors, of which nearly 90 percent will be donated to youth-related charitable organizations. 

The PA Chapter then held its regular Fall Meeting after the event concluded. 

Sporting Clays for Kids began in 2013 through the creative thinking of Stan Zeamer, a past president of the PA Chapter and 2005 recipient of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Order of Merit award, and John Thomas, a Pennsylvania Board Member. The impetus for the first event was “Saving Olympic Wrestling" after the International Olympic Committee was considering dropping wrestling as an Olympic sport! The United States and some other countries pushed back on that potential loss of our beloved sport in the Olympics, and put together teams to convince the IOC to retain wrestling. 

The PA Chapter raised over $73,000 in 2013, with a majority of that being contributed to this initiative to combat the loss of Olympic wrestling. The PA Chapter also donated $20,000 to youth-related charitable organizations that first year. 

The PA Chapter has continued to sponsor the Sporting Clays for Kids every year with the exception of 2019 and 2020 due to COVID.

Continued leadership from PA Board Members John Thomas and Lloyd Rhoades has allowed the event to continue. The majority of the funds raised come from sponsorships by large refineries, labor unions, and large construction companies.

Without like-minded organizations like these, who also believe in supporting the communities in which they work while holding a special sentiment to support youth-related charities, and event like Sporting Clays for Kids wouldn't be possible.

A better description is "Sponsor-Partners" and the PA Chapter THANKS each of them for their ongoing commitment and support for such a great cause.

Since beginning 2013, the Pennsylvania Chapter has hosted nine events and because of the strong support of its Sponsor-Partners has raised over $311,000. More than $275,000 has been donated to youth charities, meaning that an astounding 89 percent of the funds collected are able to be used by organizations to fulfill their worthy missions.

The 2024 event is slated to occur on Sunday, November 3, 2024.