Call for citizenship

Shooting Industry, August, 2004 by Russ Thurman

At any given time, there are hundreds of people in our industry who need help in battling life-threatening diseases. While we rarely promote fundraisers for such causes, we're making an exception in the case of Ross Anderson, a 12-year employee of Leupold & Stevens.

Anderson has battled leukemia for more than two years and needs a bone marrow transplant that will cost $250,000 to $350,000. Insurance will only cover a portion of the cost. His friends throughout the industry are rallying to help. The effort is lead by Ray Oeltjen, former Leupold executive and president of High Sierra Consulting. Ray has coordinated a shooting event, raffle, and auctions and established a fund to help the Anderson family. Leupold is also involved with raising funds and has donated products for a raffle.

"Every penny we raise will be delivered directly to the National Transplant Assistance Fund for Ross and Judith, his wife, to assist them in paying for the astronomical cost of Ross' battle with leukemia," Oeltjen said.

The three-gun event will be held at the Tri-County Gun Club in Sherwood, Ore., Aug. 29. Can't be there? Perhaps you can donate items for the raffle. Call (503) 648-9364. Donations can made to the National Transplant Assistance Fund by calling 1-800-642-8399. Online donations can be made by signing onto www.newsaboutross.org, which also contains information about the Anderson family.

We often discuss good citizenship in terms of reaching out to our communities. But good citizenship also means taking care of our own. It's the right thing to do, and it reflects the deeply caring nature of our industry. In turn, while not the purpose of such caring, the community notices.