STROUDSBURG, PA (WNEP/CNN) – After the school board rejected a grant from the National Rifle Association, local businesses pitched in to help a high school rifle team collect more than originally offered.
Businessman Brian Winot says he was shocked when he heard the Stroudsburg Area School Board voted Monday to reject nearly $5,000 offered by the NRA to the Stroudsburg High School’s rifle team.
The grant was meant to help the team buy new rifles to replace equipment that dates back to the 1970s.
"It wouldn't be acceptable if the football team was using helmets from the 1970s, so as a local community, we didn't feel it was acceptable for the rifle team to,” Winot said.
Almost one dozen business owners, some of whom are members of the NRA, raised more than $6,000 and donated it to the team. The district superintendent, Dr. Cosmas Curry, accepted the money Wednesday on the team’s behalf.
Curry says the school board fully supports the rifle team, but some members didn’t want the district to accept money from the NRA. The board voted 6 to 2 to reject the grant.
One member at the Monday board meeting called the grant "dirty money" because he says the NRA "is a hateful, divisive group that seeks nothing but to push guns on people," according to the Allentown Morning Call.
Because the district’s name was attached to the NRA grant, it had to be approved by the board for the team to receive it.
Coach Mike Qendro says the team applied for the grant in December and just recently found out they were selected.
"The kids were very upset, and I was upset myself. I was like, ‘OK, we really need this, and it's great we got it.’ And then all of a sudden, ‘No, you can't have it.’ But out of that sprung up local community members, just grassroots, to take care of the team,” Qendro.
The $6,000 raised by the business owners does not have to be approved by the board because it is a gift, not a grant.
Qendro plans to begin ordering new equipment for next season, which starts in the fall.
Copyright 2018 WNEP, Facebook, Rifle Team of Stroudsburg via CNN. All rights reserved. Raycom News Network contributed to this report.
