The sounds were familiar last week at Moore & Moore Sporting Clays in Sylmar, as shotguns firing, clay discs shattering, and shooters cheering echoed throughout the hillside of the gun range.
But for Cory Moore, the owner of Moore & Moore, the day meant something more personal to him and his family.
Moore has two children with autism who both either attended or currently attend Carousel Ranch, a nonprofit Santa Clarita Valley-based organization that offers equestrian therapy and vocational training programs for children and young adults with special needs.
In an effort to return the favor, Moore has offered his business for the past five years to host the Carousel Ranch “How the West Was Won” charity shooting event.
“It means more to me than you can imagine,” Moore said regarding hosting the event at Moore & Moore. “[The programs] really help my two boys a lot. They love being with the girls and the horses. It really calms them down. The people are great and the charity is amazing.”
Carousel Ranch hosted the 14th annual How the West Was Won charity shoot to raise funds that will go toward the equestrian therapy and Ready to Work training programs for those with special needs.
Around 120 players made up 24 teams that competed and raised over $57,000 for the Carousel Ranch programs, up from last year’s donations of $45,000.
“All the money raised today goes directly back to the kids,” said Taylor Adachi, the executive director of Carousel Ranch. “It will go towards our services, programs and scholarships that we offer.”
Eric Stroh, longtime Carousel Ranch board member and co-founder of the event, said he and Wayne Crawford modeled How the West Was Won around a scrambled golf tournament. Multiple teams play and move to different locations to shoot the clay discs being vaulted into the air with the squad having the highest number of discs shot winning.
Stroh said the first year they launched the event, they had 12 teams. This year, they sold out at 24 teams.
“In fact, we wanted to keep it to about 21 to 22 teams, but the demand has been really high,” Stroh said. “Year after year we get more and more people.”
Sharpe Interior Systems, the presenting sponsor for this year, bought seven teams for the fundraiser and has helped the ranch extensively, according to Stroh.
“They have even donated office furniture and all kinds of stuff to the ranch,” Stroh said. “So, it’s been really encouraging to see the groups here become more involved in the charity, other than just showing up to the shooting event.”
Miranda Juliao, material sales regional manager for Granite Construction, said the company has been participating and sponsoring the fundraiser for about five years.
Juliao said she enjoys coming out for the event because they make the event different every time, along with supporting the equestrian therapy programs Carousel Ranch offers.
“They switch up the holes sometimes and then they’ve got different raffle prizes each time along with more teams every year,” Juliao said.
For more information about Carousel Ranch’s programs and events, visit www.carouselranch.org.
