“There are many ways to be a patriot,” stated Cody Roberson, director of the Patriot Sporting Challenge. “You can be just as much a patriot as veterans themselves, by getting involved, participating and caring for our veterans.” 

The Patriot Sporting Challenge, possibly the largest charity event in East Texas, was an idea born in discussions between a few like-minded county residents in and around Yantis.

The idea was to conduct a large, sponsored series of events which combined a variety of sports representative of the area. The initial challenges included a golf tournament, trap shooting and fishing. 

Factoring in the lessons learned each year, the Patriot Sporting Challenge today (the seventh rendition) consisted of a golf tournament at the Links at Lands End and a casino night held just down the road at the Neon Moon. It was incredibly successful.

Two weeks past, the Patriot Sporting Challenge handed over a $100,000 donation to the Heroes Ranch. In the world of fundraising that is no small stipend.

The Challenge actually has four beneficiaries. In addition to the Heroes Ranch – just southeast of Cartwright between Quitman and Winnsboro – they also fund the Folds of Honor education non-profit, local veterans assistance non-profit They Got Your 6 Foundation and the children’s bereavement camp in Marble Falls, Camp Agape. 

Roberson voiced a broad view of what it means to be a patriot. At its core was a simple question of what one could do, today, in one’s present circumstances, to support those who have sacrificed in the service of others. Given that focus, he was absolutely correct that “everyone can be a patriot.” 

Viewed from that perspective, it was many patriots who came together to give that large donation to the Heroes Ranch. It bears noting that the donation came from one recently-founded and one-of-a-kind organization (the Patriot Sporting Challenge) to another recently-founded, one-of-a-kind organization (the Heroes Ranch). 

If one was to drop in at Heroes Ranch, it is most likely one would find ranch manager Luke Baker. Retired from the U.S. Army with multiple combat tours, Baker has seen much in his life already. He readily admits however, that working at Heroes Ranch has been “the most rewarding thing I have ever done.”

The Ranch is the most capable, adaptive hunting ranch in the nation. It is designed to take people who have suffered physical trauma, to include paraplegics and quadriplegics, and empower them to conduct a hunt. That is the initial premise.

As Baker describes, however, it is only the start. Heroes Ranch usually hosts someone struggling with a disability along with their whole family. The hunt can be for a day or up to a week. Although it is centered on hunting, the real secret to Heroes Ranch is the healing. 

As Baker related, “There are things that happen outside in the environment of nature, which just cannot happen indoors.”

Much of that healing involves restoring self-confidence, reestablishing a sense of self-worth and allowing those who have suffered the ability to consider the art of the possible.  

Those family members who function in support also receive some of the magic which occurs at the Ranch. Spouses open up freely with staff volunteers, and communication comes easier in the beautiful setting of Wood County. 

The results of a stay at the ranch can be profoundly life-changing. 

Baker recalled two instances as examples of the restorative powers of the ranch. In one case, a former Marine with stage 4 cancer came to the ranch. He had already undergone two years of chemotherapy and had lost much will in the fight. 

After declining the opportunity to hunt for two days, on the evening of the third day, he relented. He went on a hunt. Baker related that he emerged from the hunt a completely different person. He passed away 30 days after that hunt, but lived a full life to the end.

In another case, a youthful car crash victim who had been paralyzed from the waist down came to the ranch. He was a shell of his former self. 

Fortuitously, while he was there, a ranch veteran who had suffered from a very similar accident came by. Once the two had a chance to share their experiences, a transformative change overtook the young man. Baker regularly receives emails from the young man about the next hurdle he is going to overcome in life.   

What is special about Heroes Ranch? One must start with the founder, Freeman Sawyer. Baker related, “I have listened to Freeman answer the question about why he built the Heroes Ranch many, many times. His answer is simple: although he did not serve, both of his grandfathers did serve, and he thought it was time he did his part.”  

Baker laughed when he admitted that it was kind of a ‘build it and they will come’ situation. 

The ranch held its grand opening in March with over 700 people in attendance. They had been hosting hunts already for two years, using that time to test adaptive gear and fine tune the building plans. 

The showpiece of the ranch is a fully-customized, 6,600-sq.-ft. lodge which can accommodate three families. It could be described as ADA-compliant, but according to Baker, is really not just that, but built with the best ADA components available. It is also strikingly beautiful.

In addition to the lodge there is a firing range, an adaptive fishing pond, accessible four-wheelers, kayaks and accessible hunting stands. All are created to ensure access and realize success in the undertaking – whether that be a day fishing or a night hunting or simply being mobile in the backwoods of East Texas. 

Once folks arrive at the Ranch, all expenses are paid. Thanks to partnerships such as that with the Patriot Sporting Challenge, the focus is all on healing. 

Baker summarized, “We hope to give people who have sacrificed for us the ability to restore some things to their lives which they thought they had lost forever.”

He added that contributing to the ranch’s restorative work is a powerful and humbling experience.