Virginia's First Friends of NRA Committee Reaches Goal

Posted on NRAblog.com - September 8th

For the last few years, Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA has tried to reach the elusive $25,000 High Caliber Club mark and has narrowly missed until this year. Despite the economic conditions in southern Virginia, the committee raised over $27,000 with 232 attendees surpassing their long-time goal.

(Field Representative Jim Kilgore (center) at the Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet with
Co-Chairman Al Milton (left) and Chairman Mike Kessler (right))

The Roanoke Valley was the first ever Friends of NRA committee charted in Virginia. In 1993, they netted just over $2,000 and had less than 100 attendees. 16 years later, they are one of the biggest banquets in Virginia. “Being the Friends of NRA is a good thing,” Jim Kilgore, Western Virginia field representative said. “People want to support the things that they believe most deeply in. Our basic freedoms are foremost on everyone’s list.”

To reach their goal, Roanoke Valley does several pre-event fundraisers. This year, the committee gave away six sponsor guns and raffled off many others including the 2009 Gun of the year, the Ruger Vaqueros matched set. Roanoke Valley is also the only banquet in the nation to sell 42 pieces of jewelry at a single event from the Visionary Marketing Company. The jewelry is handcrafted by southwest Native American artisans and is offered at about a third of the retail cost at a Friends of NRA event.

At the banquet, special guest speaker Eastern Region Director Brian Hyder shared with the audience “The Cost of Freedom”, a historic talk about the value of what was required by our Founding Fathers to bring freedom from tyranny to the 13 colonies. “The cost of maintaining and teaching freedom remains high,” Kilgore said. “It is good to know we stand shoulder to shoulder with many good people in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia.”

The committee’s hard work is the main contributor to their 2009 success. “They work together toward a common goal,” Kilgore said. “I feel very proud of the entire committee; they are an amazing group of people.”

To see the upcoming events in Virginia, click here.