I always have a hard time trying to decide which organization to donate to on Giving Tuesday. Because let’s face it, there are so many amazing causes within the fly fishing community. This year I’ve decided to compile a list of a few of my favorites to share.

In honor of Giving Tuesday I’ve decided to donate 15% of all rod bag sales through Christmas to one of the organizations listed below. Please help me choose by leaving a comment on this blog post or any of my social media platforms.

Casting Carolinas

“Casting Carolinas is an independent 501 c 3 organization that began in January 2015. The Board of Directors and staff of Casting Carolinas are composed of volunteers who have conducted successful retreat weekends for the past 13 years for the organization Casting for Recovery. Casting Carolinas was founded so that this unique new F.L.O.W. program, which combines fly fishing instruction with medical education and mindfulness, could be offered to a wide variety of women surviving cancer. Our program is committed to working with local communities across North and South Carolina to make retreats possible for all survivors. Understanding that some women are not able to attend a Three-day Retreat, we have designed a program that also includes One-day Retreats and activities.

All Casting Carolinas’ retreats and events are staffed by volunteers who are experienced, skilled professionals. Our staff are trained to work with survivors and dedicated to providing a retreat experience that enhances quality of life. Our trademarked F.L.O.W. program model offers much more than  fly-fishing  instruction!  We teach the skills that can help women deal more effectively with the emotional challenges of cancer survivorship. All Casting Carolinas alumnae become part of a support network, The Casting Carolinas Fly Fishing Sisterhood,  and have the opportunity to participate in on-going gatherings and events including an annual retreat weekend.”

The Mayfly Project

“The Mayfly Project is a 501(c)(3) organization that uses fly fishing as a catalyst to mentor children in foster care.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to build relationships with children in foster care through fly fishing and introduce them to their local water ecosystems, with a hope that connecting them to a rewarding hobby will provide an opportunity for foster children to have fun, feel supported, and develop a meaningful connection with the outdoors.  

Our program

The Mayfly Project's standard program is to mentor a foster child through five sessions we call "stages", just like the life cycle of a Mayfly.  Within these stages, the children learn line management, casting techniques, knot tying, some etymology, river safety, mending tactics, hook setting, catch and release tactics, and the value of conservation. At the end of the five stages the child is given his or her very own fly rod, reel, pack, fly box, flies, tippet, indicators, etc.  Our hope is for the child to continue to pursue fly fishing and to have a tool to access the outdoors.  Each project is unique and may contain more or less stages, but the goal is to provide a well-rounded and safe fly fishing experience for children in foster care.”

Project Healing Waters

“Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings.

We hold the following core values as central to our success

Compassion – Our organization enables the physical and emotional recovery of our participants as it restores the bond of trust that they built while serving this great Nation.

Accountability – Our organization remains accountable to our Nation, to our participants, to our volunteers, to our sponsors, and to our donors.

Consistency – Our organization reliably provides high-quality programs for all volunteers and participants based-upon well-understood standards of excellence.

Community – Our organization creates a sense of family by supporting one another with dignity, passion, respect, and humility.”

Soul River

“We are a nonprofit 501 c3 focus on bringing veterans as mentors and inner city youth together into the wild rivers of nature inspiring the youth by becoming a guardian, teacher or role model as an act of service into the outdoors. The hope is that it encourages youth participants to grow and become ambassadors of our natural environment.

(SRI) Uplifts and strengthens communities by connecting inner city youth and veterans to the outdoors. harnessing incredible opportunities and powerful experiences that forges strong connections between youth and veterans, their communities, and the natural world. Spending time embraced in currents of river water, trekking majestic forested trails, and witnessing a bald eagle or elk in its habitat is healing. Connecting with nature is a powerful outlet to reduce stress, find focus, sharpen self-awareness, embrace spirituality, and develop positive values beneficial to both the individual and community. Soul River unites youth and veterans on challenging yet rewarding adventures at zero cost where they become part of something bigger than themselves, developing into strong leaders in the outdoors and their communities.

(SRI) Teaches cannot be learned in a traditional classroom or on a city street. It takes practice to learn outdoor skills and time on the river and to develop leadership. Our wild rivers provides the ideal setting for this unique, experiential education Soul River Inc. classrooms are amphibious based on some of the world’s wildest and most awe-inspiring locations. We believe living and learning by our rivers in untouched places like a classrooms will teach students responsibility and veterans healing with a purpose.”

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

“Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the voice for our wild public lands, waters and wildlife. 
Looking back, looking forward: A brief history of BHA

The campfire flared and popped, the undulating light casting crisp shadows across the seven faces gathered around it. The faces were somber yet resolute. There had been a lot of talk about loss, habitat destruction on favorite mountains, pollution of beloved waters. But a high note was rising through it all.

On that March evening of 2004 in the southern Cascade foothills outside Eagle Point, Oregon, seven visionaries saw a lot of problems with the management of our nation’s wild places and public lands. But they also conceived a means to address these problems. Onto this auspicious stage, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers was born.

Mike Beagle, on whose property they were gathered, Dick Hentze, Tim Lillebo, James Montieth, Tony Heckard, Michelle Halle and Brian Maguire set out to create a grassroots organization focused not on protecting one specific species, river or hunting area but on ecosystem-wide conservation across the continent. They wanted to create a voice for the silent wilderness.

Fourteen years later, more than 23,000 faces are gathered around that campfire, around that idea. That wilderness voice can be heard from the lonely tundra of Alaska to the raucous chambers of Congress in Washington, D.C. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is now, more than ever, advancing positive change for our nation’s hunting and fishing heritage.”

TRCP

“To guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish. We help create federal policy and funding solutions by uniting our partners and amplifying the voices of American sportsmen and women in service of Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy. In 1912, Roosevelt said, “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” While in the political arena, he succeeded in making conservation a top-tier national issue. T.R. had the foresight to address these issues still so significant to sportsmen today, understanding that if we want to safeguard critical habitat, productive hunting grounds, and favorite fishing holes for future generations, we must plan carefully today.”

P.S Don’t forget to help me pick one of these great organizations!