The Cape Fear Friends of NRA will celebrate their 30th anniversary with their Annual Banquet and Auction next week.

Cape Fear Friends of NRA connects with the national Friends of NRA program which has raised over one billion dollars for the National Rifle Association of America Foundation. That foundation has funded over 56,000 grants in connection to the support of shooting sports. Each year, the local non-profit organization uses 100% of the money raised at the Annual Banquet and Auction event to support local shooting sports and award grants for firearm safety programs.

Tony Forte, the Chairmen of the CFFNRA committee, said their organization has helped several local organizations, and one of their significant commitments is gun safety and gun education programs.
Those programs include 4-H, the scouts, sharpshooter clubs and Fayetteville's Operation Ceasefire.

"The firearms community is growing fast. Over 13 million guns were sold in the United States last year; five million of them are new shooters. That's part of the audience we're trying to reach out to," Forte said. "Education safety is key."

The Friends of NRA national organization has raised over a billion dollars for education, specifically for kids. $150,000 has been raised locally over the past six years.

The banquet event is a family-friendly affair with some educational programs, but mainly it's for people to come together and learn about what the Cape Fear Friends of NRA does. They will also be hosting raffles and auctions. The auction items will include firearms, sporting goods, equipment, ammunition and artwork.

Forte says that they expect well over 200 people to be at the event. He says this may be the best year so far. He hopes to raise at least $25,000 by the end of the event.

"Our next real milestone would be to double that. We're going to try to do it incrementally," Forte said. 'So $25,000, that's where we've been comfortable in good times and bad."

Looking towards the future, Forte says they would like to plan an event or help co-sponsor a women's target event in the fall.

"Women are dominating the shooting sports now," Forte said. "There's no reason anyone has an advantage over another person other than something they have: vision, motor coordination and motor skills. Men and women are equal on the playing field in shooting sports. As women discovered, shooting sports today are really changing our world, and it's really exciting to see."

The Annual Banquet and Auction will be held on March 24 at Paradise Acres of Grays Creek, located at 1965 John McMillan Road, in Hope Mills. The banquet will kick off at 6 p.m. Ticket prices are $45 for singles and $80 for doubles. Tickets can be purchased online at www.friendsofnra.org/eventtickets/Events/Details/34?eventId=58633.