Operation Freedom Safari Raises $25,000 At Auction

TUCSON, Arizona - One deserving combat veteran will accompany TV host Jim Zumbo and SCI Life member Fred Bowlin on Operation Freedom Safari, the hunt of a lifetime in Botswana this coming summer. SCI Life member Fred Bowlin of Shreveport, Louisiana was the high bidder at $25,000 during the recent SCI Convention, assuring himself a place in the Operation Freedom Safari adventure to take place this coming August.

"SCI is grateful to Mr. Bowlin for recognizing Operation Freedom Safari as worthy of his support," said SCI Executive Director Tom Riley. "Every day, our proud servicemen put their lives on the line protecting freedom all over the world. It is an honor to give one deserving member of the armed services the chance to make his or her African hunting dream come true."

Bowlin will accompany Jim Zumbo of Jim Zumbo Outdoors on the Outdoor Channel and one deserving enlisted veteran of recent conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan on a seven-day, six-animal safari on Sukses Ranch in the Tuli Block of Botswana Aug. 1 through 9.

Ranch owners Eric and Oksana Sparks are hosting the entire Freedom Safari activities in Botswana. Funds delivered to Mrs. Sparks' Matlou Foundation will be used on the ground in Botswana to help feed local villagers and to help fight AIDS in the southern African nation. The Matlou Foundation uses its funds to fight AIDS in many ways. It collaborates with other foundations to fund outreach programs to small villages that include AIDS testing and treatment, and it provides food and clothing for the victims of aids and their children, to name a few.

Of the $25,000 raised at auction, $10,000 will go to the Matlou Foundation, and $15,000 will go towards funding SCI/SCI Foundation programs and initiatives.

Any enlisted person who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan during recent hostilities is eligible to enter for a chance to go on the hunt. For the enlisted person, the safari is an all-expenses-paid hunting adventure (all travel, equipment, food, lodging, everything is provided free). Freedom Safari will be taped for broadcast on Zumbo's television show, and will be covered in SAFARI Magazine.

Prospective Freedom Safari applicants need to submit their short essay explaining why they have always wanted to go on an African safari by June 1, 2006. To enter, current or former military enlisted personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan merely need to send the statement about why he or she always has wanted to go on safari, along with name, rank and personal contact information to Steve Comus at Safari Club International, 4800 W. Gates Pass Road, Tucson, AZ 85745. Or apply online at www.safariclub.org, or at www.freedomsafari.com.

For a publication-quality image of Bowlin and Zumbo with Eric and Oksana Sparks, go online to www.safariclub.org/pr/releases/ofswinner/.

SCI-First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI's 173 Chapters represent all 50 United States as well as 13 other countries. SCI's proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit www.safariclub.org or call 520-620-1220 for more information.