Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors Youth
named to Pheasants Forever’s
National Youth Leadership Council

December 13, 2012, Wichita, KS.  Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc. announced today that two of the children being mentored through its outdoor mentoring program have been selected to serve on Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s National Youth Leadership Council.

Kenneth McCoy and Taylor Tennant, of Wichita, KS, were nominated for the position based on their love of the outdoors and their leadership potential.  Kenny’s mentor, Pastor William Vann, heads up the Real Men, Inc. program in Wichita, focusing on giving young men positive role models.  An avid hunter, Bill has given Kenny opportunities to hunt and fish that wouldn’t have been available to him otherwise.  Taylor’s mentor, David Marble, is the Ringneck Rustlers’ Pheasant Forever Chapter Youth Coordinator.  Taylor and Dave have been matched, along with Taylor’s twin brother Tyler, for the last 2-1/2 years.  In that time, Dave has taken the twins pheasant, duck, goose, deer, dove and turkey hunting (pretty much, if you can hunt it in Kansas, they’ve hunted it!) and hog hunting in Texas.  They have also spent time at the range, shooting rifles and shotguns.  They have built their own fishing rods from scratch.  And they’ve spent many hours using those rods on ponds and lakes around Kansas.

The Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever National Youth Leadership Council is a group of young people from around the country that represent their age group on issues related to the future of hunting and wildlife conservation. Each NYLC ambassador is a Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever youth member age 13 – 18 who likes wildlife and is interested in hunting, conservation and being outdoors.  Candidates are required to submit an application along with a short essay expressing their interest in serving on the Council and are interviewed by Pheasants Forever Staff and current members of the National Youth Leadership Council before being appointed.

“Pheasants Forever has partnered with Pass It On—Outdoor Mentors for years, and we are excited to welcome two of their youth to our youth council.  I’m confident they will be excellent representatives for Kansas and help recruit even more kids to the outdoors,” said Howard Vincent, president and CEO of Pheasants Forever.

With their appointment, Kenny and Taylor will be providing input as to what should be included in Pheasants Forever’s Upland Tales magazine and website, working to get youth and their families outdoors and active, promoting and educating others on the importance of conservation and wildlife management, and working on initiatives that have a positive impact on the future of hunting, conservation and youth.  In Kenny’s application, he stated that he felt that participating on the National Youth Leadership Council would help him grow towards being a better person.  In his essay, Taylor indicated that he would like to see other children like himself have the opportunity to get outdoors that he has had.

Before being matched to their mentors, Kenny and Taylor had little opportunity to go hunting, shooting or fishing.  Bill met Kenny on an outing with Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, where children from the waiting list were given the opportunity to spend time fishing with some volunteers who were interested in becoming mentors.  Bill wanted to get more involved with the Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors program and see children like Kenny have the opportunity to experience the outdoors that he loved.

Dave met Taylor and Tyler on a spring turkey hunt that Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors had arranged.   At that time, they were waiting to be matched to a mentor through the local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency.  Upon returning from the hunt, Dave contacted Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors and asked to be matched to the twins.  BBBS took care of all of the background checks, reference checks and interviews of Dave before making the match.  Typically, BBBS does not match more than one child with a mentor.  However, Dave indicated they were a package deal as he wouldn’t be able to take one of them hunting and leave the other behind. 

Kenny and Taylor are representative of many children across the country who would welcome the opportunity to experience the great outdoors if only they had a mentor to show them the ropes.  Bill, Dave, and many men and women like them, are making a difference by volunteering to mentor these children, giving them the chance to learn the thrill of being outdoors and experiencing nature in all of its glory.  Kenny and Taylor are excellent examples of what can happen for these children when they are given that opportunity.

To learn more about Pheasants Forever and their National Youth Leadership Council, please visit their website at http://www.pheasantsforever.org.

To learn more about Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, Inc. please visit their website at http://www.outdoormentors.org

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