Local hunt club donates $5,000 to cancer center fundraiser

Bullseye Hunt Club donates $5,000 raised at annual Big Buck Night to It’s a Great Day to be Alive, a fundraiser for the St. Joe’s Chelsea Cancer Center. Photo courtesy of Mark VanBogelen.

On January 20, 2018 the Bullseye Hunt Club held its annual ‘Big Buck Night’ at the Manchester Sportsman Club. The event hosts about 200 area hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. All tickets are sold before the hunting seasons start and successful hunters then have their trophies scored in order to compete for prizes. There are separate categories for Bow, Gun, Crossbow and Youth. This weekend, they presented the money raised during the event to a local cancer center fund-raiser.

More than 10 years ago Dexter resident Gary Klapperich, a cancer surgery survivor, decided that he was going to do something to help combat cancer. St. Joseph Mercy Hospital was building a cancer center close to home in Chelsea. So, he along with his wife Karen, fostered the idea of holding an annual fund raiser, “It’s a Great Day to be Alive” to benefit the cancer center. They’ve raised and donated thousands of dollars each year ever since.

Bullseye Hunt Club member, Mark VanBogelen explained, “In the past couple of years, members of the club have been diagnosed with and are fighting different forms of the atrocious disease, cancer. As a result, the club decided that this years’ proceeds would be donated to help the fight against this terrible affliction.”

The Bullseye Hunt Club membership chose “It’s a Great Day to be Alive” because of its local nature and made a $5,000 contribution.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.