Youth Odyssey has been making moves to create new partnerships and program-sponsors with other, like-minded, businesses and organizations and we are proud to say that we have created a new, fun and exciting partnership with Majesty Outdoors!
What is Majesty Outdoors? you may be asking. Like Youth Odyssey, Majesty Outdoors Foundation is also a 501-c-(3) non-profit organization. “Their work is focused on bringing awareness to the fatherless epidemic in our society and enacting real life change in our communities related to the growing Fatherless Generation.” Clearly an organization with a great mission but I didn’t realize how much the absence of a good father figure was until I came across these statistics:
- 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
- 85% of youth in prison are from fatherless homes.
- 71% of high school dropouts are from fatherless homes.
- 90% of homeless & runaway children are from fatherless homes.
- It is 7 times more likely for teens from fatherless home to become pregnant.
- 75% of youth in chemical abuse centers are from fatherless homes.
When I read these I was shocked and wondered, How does Majesty Outdoors combat such high statistics? They start by reaching out to other organizations and create “Chapters” in local churches, called Generation Outdoors (i.e.Real Life Church), to see where the need is – that’s how Youth Odyssey got into the mix. “Through Generation Outdoors, a mentor training & equipping program, Majesty Outdoors Foundation is partnering with local faith communities to train men and women of faith in mentoring fatherless children in their communities. For Generation Outdoors, group activities are rooted in anything and everything outdoors and are accompanied by faith-based lesson plans, which are tailored to the group activities. The mentees receive spiritual development and the realization that there is a strong support network to increase self esteem through the mentors of Generation Outdoors.”
Thanks to their T.V. show “Majesty Outdoors TV“, most people associate Majesty Outdoors as an organization that hosts fatherless youth on once-in-a-lifetime experiences through outdoor activities like hunting and fishing. Through those mediums they are creating that fatherly bond that these kids need. They utilize the volunteers and mentors from their Generation Outdoors programs to accompany the youth on their adventures. Though Majesty Outdoors is located right here in Corpus Christi, Texas, their adventures can take them all over the United States and world. They frequently go to Florida for fishing and up into the Dakotas for different types of hunting opportunities. Nearly all of the youth that go on these adventures have never been hunting or fishing, much less out of Texas or on a TV show. The show and foundation were inspired after the founder, Bill Blodgett, had a full knee replacement and during recovery watched a ton of outdoor television. Realizing that “There’s only so many ways you can catch a fish or harvest a deer – all of which has been done on television” there was something missing. “With a combination of his passion for the outdoors, youth ministry and the fatherless generation, Bill decided that he needed to start a television series where he is the host but the teen is the star and the storyline changes each week – Majesty Outdoors TV was born.”
So how do they find these “stars” you ask? People nominate youth, male and female, to be on the show. Once the nominations are received they look over them and select the individuals for the different episodes they have planned. When they approached Youth Odyssey about partnering with them we jumped on the opportunity. Our missions align perfectly and overlap with the youth we are impacting. Since we work with at-risk youth as well and quite a few of the youth we work with come from fatherless homes Majesty Outdoors asked us for nominations. Due to the age ranges we usually work with, our mentors were the only ones who were old enough to be nominated. So we went over mentors who we thought would enjoy these new challenges and could grow through them as well. We submitted nominations and two of our mentors, one male and one female, were selected to be showcased on the Majesty Outdoors TV show THIS SEASON! (We will be following up with our mentors and with Bill Blodgett to interview them all on their experiences working with each other in future blogs.)
With each youth that is chosen for the show they receive a shopping spree to gain the appropriate outdoor gear that they would need on their fishing or hunting adventure. It includes jackets, shirts, pants, boots, hats, a cooler and all sorts of amazing gear to make them comfortable along the trip and it is an incredible confidence booster to the youth that receives them. Then they take them out to dinner and discuss how the next few days will go with getting picked up, where they are going, what they are doing and getting them more comfortable with the idea of being on TV and having a camera around the whole time. The next day is when it all goes down and they head out to create new experiences and lasting memories. Bill and the other volunteers work with the youth to teach them about the ins and outs of hunting/fishing. They use those teachable moments to deepen and reinforce their connections with the youth they are with and that is what sets them apart from not just other TV shows but also other organizations. As an added bonus, all youth who appear on the show will be eligible for a college scholarship after completing high school and other foundation requirements!
Through Youth Odyssey’s partnership with Majesty Outdoors we are confident that we can have an even deeper impact in the youth in the Coastal Bend. Each organization has something different to bring to the table and has created a mutually beneficial relationship. Youth Odyssey has its niche in the Coastal Bend and Majesty Outdoors, through their TV coverage, reaches the entire country. Majesty Outdoors is always looking to increase the number of youth they are impacting and so is Youth Odyssey, so by continuing to nominate our mentors and other Youth Odyssey participants we are doing just that. Youth Odyssey already has amazing statistics about how our programming is having a positive impact on the youth we work with, and so does Majesty Outdoors. With us working together those stats get even more impressive and the youth benefit that much more.
We are very excited about this new partnership and can’t wait to see how much more of an impact our combined efforts can accomplish!
