MOSES LAKE — Tickets are on sale for the annual Youth Outdoors Unlimited fundraising banquet March 5. YOU is a Moses Lake organization that gives young people with physical challenges or life-threatening illnesses the chance to go on a fishing or hunting adventure. The action begins with a silent auction at 4:30 p.m. at the Best Western Plus Lake Front Hotel, 300 W. Marina Drive.

Youth Outdoors Unlimited provides adaptive equipment to children who need it, and the help of hunting and fishing guides.

Sometimes a hunting or fishing trip is successful, sometimes it’s not. Those who are successful get a stuffed and mounted trophy, typically presented at a banquet, either in Moses Lake or at other YOU banquets held throughout the state and region.

The hunting and fishing trips are free to the children and their families, and are tailored to the needs of each person. Landowners donate the use of their property and guides donate their services. Outfitters donate the needed equipment. If a child gets an animal or catches a fish, professionals donate the meat processing and taxidermists donate their time to mount the trophies.

Every fisherman and hunter knows there are no guarantees – although, as a former participant pointed out, it’s enough to know that they tried their best. So every family gets a complete outdoor experience. Participants and their families get to go camping, out on the boat if they’re fishing, sometimes leaving the dock before it’s light, as a former fisherman remembered.

Youth, guides and families sometimes go driving the backroads if they’re hunting or sometimes wait in a blind. Since the program started, adventurers have hunted deer and elk in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, hunted bears in Canada and antelope in Wyoming. They’ve also fished for salmon in the Columbia River.

Sometimes there are camping and campfires, and there’s always camp food. Organizers take into account all dietary needs. Participants go shopping before they go hunting or fishing to ensure they’ve got the proper equipment.

Tickets are available through the YOU website, www.youthoutdoorsu.org. Other fundraisers are scheduled for Olympia on April 2 and Wenatchee April 24.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].