Shooting Enthusiasts Again Aid Worthy Cause

It was another beautiful day for some fun competition while raising money at the 14th annual Shoot Down Kids Cancer fundraiser.

Held on a recent Saturday at Gulf Coast Clays in Port of the Islands, the charitable event supports the American Cancer Society’s pediatric cancer research. Each year is marked by a raffle, games, silent and live auctions, door prizes and of course, teams from Marco businesses, groups, institutions and residents enjoying a spirited competition as marksmen target “sporting clays” with shotguns.

Sporting clays are circular disks and the sport is designed to simulate hunting, with participants moving between stations arranged in a course. At each of Gulf Coast Clays’ 15 stations, the clay targets are mechanically hurled into the air at heights to simulate the movement of rabbits, birds, pheasants and other commonly hunted animals. 

This year, 60 shooters took part raising $35,000 to $40,000 for pediatric cancer research, said Gary Landis, who co-founded the fundraiser, along with Don Henderson, a fellow board member at the American Cancer Society’s Marco Island office.

“In total, we've raised, I think, about a half million dollars for pediatric cancer research, and that's nice,” observed Landis. “It's a one-day shoot. It takes a little more than two hours to shoot the course. And then we have a wonderful lunch prepared by the Island Country Club.”

Landis said that when he and Henderson started Shoot Down Kids’ Cancer, they weren’t certain it would catch on the way it has. 

“We weren't sure it was going to last, so we didn't call it the first annual,” he explained. “We just said it was the first event. Now we do refer to it as an annual event. Lord knows we’ve received a lot of support from shooters that belong to the gun club. And we also get a lot of support from shooters that belong to the Island Country Club. It's just a good thing.”