A high school rifle team will not be denied the opportunity to upgrade its equipment even though the school board refused to approve an NRA grant for that purpose.
Stroudsburg High School, near Allentown, Pa., had been chosen to receive $4,730 in NRA funding to buy new rifles and vests for the 21-member sport team, but the school board voted 6-2 to disallow the gift. So business and political leaders went to bat for the team, with state Rep. Maureen Madden, D-Monroe, starting a GoFundMe campaign and businesses accepting donations.
The results: area businesses gave $6,750 to the school before cutting off acceptance of gifts and the Madden effort raised $8,700. Madden said she was planning to present a check to the school board at its April 4 meeting.
Business leaders said the reason for the private fundraising effort was simple. “It is important to note, they are all members of the NRA and strongly disagree with the school board’s decision and further attempt to politicize guns in this country, on the backs of our kids,” Brian Winot, president of Northeast Site Contractors (one of the businesses behind the campaign), said of the businessmen and donors who contributed, according to The Morning Call. “Guns and hunting are part of the very fabric of the Pocono community.”
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