MOSES LAKE — Youth Outdoors Unlimited will hold its annual banquet and auction March 2 at the Best Western Plus Lake Front Hotel, 3000 W. Marina Drive in Moses Lake. Besides the dinner and live auction, attendees will have an opportunity to hear from the hunters and anglers who benefited from YOU last year.

Youth Outdoors Unlimited, started in 2011 by Joe and Cindy Carpenter of Moses Lake, enables youth with disabilities or life-threatening illnesses to have the hunting or fishing trip of their dreams. All of the equipment is donated by community members, as are meat processing and taxidermy services. The young outdoorspersons are accompanied by volunteer guides.

“Every kid that comes into our program with a physical disability or a life-threatening illness, they get to pick which kind of trip they go on,” Cindy Carpenter said at last year’s event. “Every kid gets outfitted either at Sportsman's Warehouse or Bass Pro Shops. They get to pick all the food — and we eat well … Every kid gets some meat processed for free and delivered to their families. So you've got kids with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses feeding their families, which is a great thing. And every kid gets free taxidermy.”

Auction items will include a guided crab fishing trip for five, an all-inclusive five-day South African safari hunt and a freezer pre-stocked with food, according to the auction catalog, as well as a table of desserts that will be auctioned separately. 

Before the live auction begins, the youths who went hunting and fishing in the last year will receive their taxidermied trophies, and have a chance to tell supporters what the trip meant to them.

Tickets are $700 for a table of eight, or $70 for an individual, according to the website. The venue has limited space, so anyone who wants to attend is encouraged to buy their tickets early. Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/YOU2024tix.

“It really does change you,” YOU volunteer Lisa Dodson told attendees at the 2023 auction. “So I would challenge you to really look at this in a different light, a different heart. Look at … what these guys go through every single day that we take for granted. We can get up and move around and do all this, and these kids are challenged. And for that I'm grateful to be part of this great organization.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Cyrus Levine (right) and his mom Teagan Levine (left) pose with Cyrus’ trophy during the 2022 Youth Outdoors Unlimited Moses Lake banquet.
  

    Auctioneer Tucker Cool, with the help of Miss Moses Lake Roundup Annabelle Booth, looks for bids on a dessert at the 2023 Youth Outdoors Unlimited banquet and auction. This year’s auction is March 2.