NSSF® Offers Assistance to Firearms Retailers and Shooting Ranges in Wake of Oklahoma and North Texas Tornadoes
NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, has announced a disaster relief effort to help its members whose businesses were impacted by the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma and northern Texas.
"We want our member companies to know that their trade association stands with them in these challenging times, and that this assistance is another benefit of membership," said NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Chris Dolnack.
NSSF is making $100,000 available in dedicated aid for business loss or damage resulting from the tornadoes to qualifying member companies located in federally declared disaster areas, with emphasis placed on providing relief to store-front federally licensed firearm retailers and shooting ranges. Funds are available to members suffering significant financial hardship that are unable to pay for critical and immediate expenses to resume business.
"Many FFLs don't know if their insurance will cover their losses," said Joe Keffer, owner of The Sportsman's Shop in New Holland, Pa., and chairman of the NSSF Retailer Advisory Committee. "NSSF's relief fund could cover the cost of replacing computers, signage or other workplace equipment that will help a business rebound from storm-related damage."
"This is a real pick-me-up for businesses that sustained damage from the storms," said Bill Kempffer of Deep River Sporting Clays and Shooting School in Sanford, N.C., and chairman of the NSSF Range Advisory Committee. "As a range that was affected by a hurricane in the 1990s and knowing the struggle of returning to normal operations amid the cleanup and repairs that need to be done, I am proud to be a part of an organization like NSSF that is willing to provide such help."
Both Keffer and Kempffer are members of the NSSF Board of Governors.
Applicants for relief should contact Samantha Hughes at NSSF at 203-426-1320. A "Tornado Relief Fund Application" is available online at nssf.org/share/PDF/TornadoReliefFund.pdf. The deadline for submitting applications for assistance is June 14.
"Our goal in providing assistance to qualifying members is to help keep their doors open during extraordinary circumstances," said Bettyjane Swann, NSSF's director of member services.