A wise Church youth director once suggested that one can learn a great deal by helping those who live in faraway locales.  In a sense, working in a shelter or a food bank in another town or state provides an opportunity to see things in a different light and, to some extent, benchmark and bring new ideas to one’s community.

And the Sportsman Channel provided leaders from independent broadband providers with an opportunity to participate with an organization that has been helping those in need in Indianapolis for 67 years. The Sportsman Channel organized one of their Hunt.Fish.Feed events, whereby the Sportsman Channel provides food from hunting and fishing organizations and finds volunteers to help prepare and serve the food (click here for a video about the program).

As described in the above video by Daniel Soane, VP of Affiliate Sales & Emerging Media for the Outdoor Sportsman Group, the Sportsman Channel worked with The Independent Show (TIS) to modify its Hunt.Fish.Feed program into a pre-TIS activity. This is a good fit with ACA and NCTC members who attend TIS target, as the people who work for these entities are leaders in helping service organizations in their respective communities.

Executive Chef and television host, Scott Leysath (“The Galloping Gourmet for the open field”), led the preparation of a meal that included venison-packed, sloppy joes.  He and the other Sportsman Channel representatives made the process easy for the rest of the volunteers, as they have lots of experience organizing Hunt.Fish.Feed events with affiliates (more than one per month, on average).

The organization they partnered with in Indianapolis has quite a story as well. Alesha Schwab, Development Assistant, explains how the Good News Ministries started as a men’s shelter and has expanded to include, a health clinic, a family shelter, youth center and camp ministry. What is amazing is that it has been privately funded through donations and income generated from the efforts of the very people it serves.

The above broll provides a glimpse of the Good News Ministrie’s village that sits in “the midst of one of Indianapolis’ poorest residential neighborhoods.” Especially impressive about the facility is the multi-story play structure and the general cleanliness of the grounds. Another wise man once opined that he could tell a great deal about a product by the cleanliness and presentation of those things that could be seen, like the management of the wires.

It’s clear that the kind of activity organized by the Sportsman Channel would be of great value to the many tech conferences hosted in Silicon Valley. It is also clear that the type of program that the Good News Ministries runs would be an asset in any neighborhood and that they have some good lessons to impart to those who live beyond their city limits.