Give your kid a break from screen time with On Target Outfitters.
On Target Outfitters recently finished construction on an 8000-square-foot indoor archery range Youth Center, which can also be used as a multi-purpose space for numerous activities.
A $25,000 matching grant with the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation made it possible for them to attach a Community Room to the indoor range.
“This new space gives us opportunities for year-round programs,” Steve Scott, the executive director said. “So, while we do a ton of camps in the summertime, this space will give us the opportunity to continue to build off of those relationships with programs throughout the year.”
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The Community Room is a 2000 square foot wing, with a “home-like” feel where families can hang out.
“We want this to be a place where families want to be and so we try to create it as like a home-like environment,” Scott said. “So, there’s a couple of cozy couches and a fireplace to cuddle up by. There’s a back porch to sit out and enjoy the leaves that are changing.”
Next year they plan to add a patio to the Community Room for people to sit around a fire pit.
On Target Outfitters is a children’s outdoor sports ministry. The Findlay Chapter, on 3246 State Route 224 in McComb, offers summer day camps, a competitive archery team, a mentored hunting club, various child/parent programs, several instructional leagues and different special events.
The ministry is working to break children away from their screens and get them to have fun outside while making new friends and learning about God.
Since On Target Outfitters was founded in 2008, they have worked with over 3,500 students to instill a love for God’s Creation, friendship and outdoor sports in children in Ohio.
“Our whole goal in doing (outdoor sports) is to get them out in Creation,” Scott said. “And then yeah, then it’s a really easy conversation to move from Creation to Creator, and if there’s a Creator and He created them, then He created them for purpose. Makes it pretty easy time.”
They offer various outdoor sports including archery, fishing, camping hunting and riflery for children to learn, with help from skilled camp counselors, volunteers, coaches and instructors.
According to the website, the ministry believes that the relationships that children build with mentors can greatly benefit them throughout their lives. “All of us can benefit from learning from someone further down the path of life and all of us can be a blessing to someone coming behind us. The greatest thing we can leave to the next generation is a legacy of faith.”
They also believe in the difference that doing outdoor sports can make in children’s development.
“Respect, discipline (and) practice, develop self-confidence,” Scott said, are all qualities they hope to instill in children. They also teach children to have respect for firearms and firearm safety.
“Kids have like a distorted view of firearms because of video games. But when we actually get them out doing riflery, they learn a lot more about – about the sport, so they have a much greater respect for – for firearms and safety.”
On Target Outfitters offers various summer day camps to pique the interests of every child, including archery, marksmanship, fishing, craft and various adventure/survival camps, as well as various events throughout the year.
Their Archery Team season starts Nov. 2 and continues until April 11. Students ages 8 through 18 who have their own compound bow are welcome. Practices are held every Thursday from 6 pm to 8 pm. It costs $250 to participate and includes a shirt and unlimited targets used during practice. Register here.
Homeschools are invited to their next event, ‘Homeschool Outdoors’ to learn about “God’s great outdoors,” fishing, long-range archery and do various outdoor crafts.
New events are added to the online calendar every month.
To learn more about, or to donate to On Target Outfitters, visit https://www.ontargetoutfitters.org/?fbclid=IwAR1KQAJxedMuJHfuouJ7TlaEWs45VuPOWA8yv8APeMsw31f6fOCaVXG58xo.