Over 200 people turned out Saturday at the Powder Creek shooting range in Lenexa, Kansas to support the 5tgh annual John V. Mesh Sporting Clays shoot. The event, named for fallen Kansas City Firefighter and Historic
Northeast native John Mesh, is a fundraiser for the John V. Mesh
memorial scholarship fund. That scholarship pays for area youth to
attend summer camps sponsored by the Missouri Department of
Conservation, teaching and mentoring young people interested in a career in the Conservation Service.

Event organizers Jim Mesh and Kansas City Firefighter John Sirna
founded the scholarship fund the year John Mesh was killed in the
October 12, 2015 fire that also took the life of Firefighter Larry Leggio. “We provide scholarships for anyone interested in a conservation
related degree at area universities, and we sponsor any kids camps
related to the outdoors,” Sirna noted.

Despite the pandemic, area youth were still able to attend a summer
outdoor camp hosted by the Missouri Department of Conservation. “We recently awarded a scholarship to a young man attending MIssouri State
University in Springfield who’s studying to be a Fish and Wildlife
Agent,” Mesh added.

This year roughly thirty-five teams of five competed in the event, down
roughly ten teams. That didn’t diminish the enthusiasm however and with former Kansas City Chief Art Still on hand along with some other NFL notables such as former Green Bay Packer Paul Coffman, New England Patriots Linebacker Mike Rivera and former K-State and Tampa Bay Bucs Josh Freeman.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas was on hand as well to offer his
support for the Mesh family and the scholarship fund as well. “As long
as I’m mayor of Kansas City, the Mesh and Legggio will know that we love and support them and the KCFD will never forget their courage and sacrifice,” Lucas said. . “Every day these heroes go out, they address so many tough situations in the city, this event shows the community coming together and I’m happy to do that.,” Lucas added.

This year’s event raised a little over $20,000 for the scholarship
fund. A Motorcycle Poker Run will be hosted by Dream Machine Motorsports in Independence. That event, in its inaugural year, will take place on September 26th. For more information on the scholarship and upcoming events, visit www.johnvmesh.org.