LINCOLN – More youth will be able to take part in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Mentored Youth Archery Program thanks to a donation of 23 gently used compound bows by Scheels All Sports in Lincoln.
“It’s going to be a huge help,” said Aaron Hershberger, a Game and Parks outdoor education specialist who coordinates the Mentored Youth Archery Program. The program pairs youth interested in bowhunting with experienced archers. Many youth hunters take part in the program year after year.
“Once you’re in the program, you’re part of a huge family,” Hershberger said.
Not every family can afford to spend a few hundred dollars on a good compound bow. The donation will allow youth participants to borrow a bow from Game and Parks for the duration of their time in the program. When they leave the program, they will return the bow for another young archer to use.
“Scheels believes strongly in developing outdoors skills from an early age,” said Monica Ledbetter, assistant store leader at Scheels’ Lincoln location. “We hope the donation of these bows helps to foster a love of archery and an appreciation of the outdoors in youth who otherwise might not have been exposed to either.”
Nebraska’s Mentored Youth Archery Program has approximately 100 youth participants between the ages of 12 and 19, as well as 25 mentors.