Parents help your team engage in their Midway USA Accounts
Posted On: 03-24-2023
I am pretty sure most of you that actually do read these articles know about the Midway USA Foundation and their support of youth shooting. Currently about 185 teams participate in Missouri.
Teams and organizations are reviewed each year in one of three ways. First, they are fully engaged meaning they have added money to their accounts and they have received the benefit of the 5% dispersal each year. Second, teams are engaged, but only to the degree that they have taken the 5% dispersal but have not invested in their account during the year. And finally they are not engaged in any way. Teams have not invested nor have they requested a dispersal of funds.
If you want to know about your team look here. Simply add in the team name and you will see the amount they have in their endowment, percentage of the goal they have set to fulfill the endowment, cash grants awarded over the years, their current dispersal amount available, team contacts, and donors. I encourage each and every one of you to take a look at your team. This information is valuable, so asking if your team has used the dispersal and have they invested in their account might alert them to this funding if they have not used it previously.
After you look, take note of the team contacts. Are they current? If not, contact Yim Szeto at [email protected] as she is our Midway USA Representative in Missouri and the Southwest United States. Talk to Yim as well about possible fundraising items the foundation has and how easy it is to raise money. She can be very helpful.
As I close this I have to say as Executive Director of the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance (MYSSA) I am always confused and saddened when I see teams that never access these accounts. While I don’t agree with simply taking the dispersal and not investing I am not judging anyone’s reasons or rationale. What I do know though is on the average and most typically, every dollar you invest in your Midway USA Foundation (MUSF) Account IS DOUBLED. Honestly I know of nowhere or any other charitable organization that matches every dollar you provide 100%. Your one dollar becomes two.
As parents you invest so much in support of your youth shooter. Everything costs more so the impact is even tougher. For that support we at MYSSA thank you with a deep appreciation for what you do for youth shooters. We encourage your team to raise funds to help in the costs and that annual dispersal goes a long way in ensuring funding is available and will be available for youth shooters.
Even if you do a fund raiser and need some immediate cash to purchase shells, cover travel and entry fees or other expenses, putting some of the money into your MUSF account is a positive and once invested it will be there for generations of youth shooters to come. Invest in your account! Everyone wins!