In keeping with AIHPA’s tradition of hosting an annual charity drive, this year the club chose to increase awareness, and raise money, for the the Cystic Fibrosis foundation.

The brief was simple; we needed a charity that somehow related to the one of the three principles of shooting: breathing, sight picture, trigger control.  Having already raised $2200 for Multiple Sclerosis in 2008 (a condition affecting the central nervous system and therefore motion control), then in 2009 raising $3615 for the eyesight charity of Macular Degeneration (MD), the AIHPA decided this year’s charity ought to be breathing related.

Frank Gasparini, an avid AIHPA shooter, nominated the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) foundation of NSW for the 2010 raffle to the AIHPA, where the committee agreed.  Frank volunteered to project manage the fund raiser on behalf of organisation.  Frank had a steap learning curve, but began immediately accumulating sponsors, distribution of raffle ticket books and chasing funds.

Frank has been involved with the CF community for 24 years, since his daughter, Cathy, was diagnosed with CF at birth. Back then, the life expectancy of children with CF was, in fact, just that - childhood.  CF primarily affects the lungs and makes it difficult for sufferers to breathe, and causes frequent involuntary coughing, treated by the taking of numerous medications to reduce the lung damage of the disease.  Whilst people with CF can certainly participate in shooting sports, their standard of shooting will be affected depending how old the shooter is, and how advanced the stages of CF in that person are.

Today, many people with CF are living into their twenties, thirties and beyond. These advancements have only occurred due to the dedication and generosity of fund raising efforts, like this AIHPA fund raiser, to assist medical research and support the families of children with CF.

After months of promotion and hard ticket-selling by AIHPA members, the raffle was finally drawn Sunday, 4^th July, at the Sydney Cup.  43 prizes given out, ranging in value from $20 to $300, for a total value of over $2000.

In total, the AIHPA raised $3766 for the CF foundation.  A tremendous effort.  This results in the AIHPA's 3 year fund raising initiatives to total over $9,500.  A SENSATIONAL EFFORT!!!

Two sufferers of CF (including Frank’s daughter Cathy and her friend Lisa) attended the raffle draw on the day, as well as a representative from the CF foundation of NSW.  All three extended their warm thanks to the AIHPA and its members, for thier hard efforts.

AIHPA’s dedication to annual charity fund raising events serves not only as a positive reflection of its’ members to continually increase awareness and raise money for various charities, but AIHPA's fund raising events also serve to  positively reflect upon, and support charities linked to, the sport of shooting as a whole.

Special thanks go to Dave  Waters for all his hard work, guidance and maintaining the website. Also a huge thanks to the AIHPA committee, lead by Matt Avard, for accepting CF as the 2010 charity of choice.  Of course, a very special and overwhelming thank you to all of you who sold raffle tickets books (a burdenous task) and thanks to all those who purchased raffle tickets.

It goes without saying, a HUGE thank you to our generous sponsors which include: Valvoline (Major sponsor), Bankstown Airport, J.J. O'Brien's chain of hotels, The Gunsmiths, De Bortoli Wines, Mainline Dyno, Nexon, Telstra, and many other company and private sponsors who dug deep for this great cause.  This year’s raffle would not have been a success without your generous contributions; not only in terms of generous sponsorship and dollars raised, but also organisation, knowledge and the time you have dedicated.

Congratulations to our winners and well done all!

Catherine Gasparini