Anthony Infante

Anthony Infante has always had a heart for helping children. In fact, as his friend Denny Dolmajor stated, “He is a kid at heart himself and he has a heart for kids with affliction.” While working at a camp for physically challenged children Anthony developed a great desire to help children with special needs. As enthusiastic as Anthony is in regards to these children, he also has a great zeal for bow hunting. He would have never imagined that an opportunity would open up that would combine his desire to help children with his passion for bow hunting. But incredibly enough it did. It turned out to be not only a dream come true for the children but one for him as well.

The journey towards realizing this dream began three years ago. After speaking to some of the other hunters at his church, Evangel Heights, he decided to begin a chapter of the Christian Bowhunters of America (CBA) called Arrows of Faith. They meet once a week and spend time fellowshipping and practicing their shooting skills. And, because it is a Christian based organization, they use any opportunities that they have to spread the gospel to other hunters. “We’re planting seeds out there and we just wait for the Lord to water it so it will grow,” explained Bert Thompson, newest member to the CBA group.

The Arrows of Faith venture opened the door to an incredible opportunity for Anthony and the rest of the group. The program was called “Hunt of a Lifetime”. Hunt of a Lifetime is a non-profit organization that grants hunting and fishing adventures to children who have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. This was perfect! It provided the ideal outlet for Anthony’s aspiration to work with and improve the lives of children. He and the other members of Arrows of Faith got on board and started making a difference. They began raising money to pay for hunting trips by attending sportsmen’s shows, putting collection cans in businesses and by personal donations.

“We’ve accomplished a lot in a short period of time (with Hunt of a Lifetime) with so few members,” stated Anthony. Last year they sponsored a boy to go to Texas on a hunting trip and this year they are sponsoring 15 year-old Eric Jamison on a hunting trip on December 22 through December 30th. He will be hunting white tail deer. Eric was diagnosed with medulloblastoma (a cancerous brain tumor) in 2001 and underwent 28 radiation treatments and nine months of rehabilitation. In 2004 the tumor was back and there is very little hope of a cure. An outfitter donated $1,500 to the hunt and Arrows of Faith had to raise $1,500 more. They were able to raise almost $1,000 of the money at the Sportsmen’s Show in Monroeville. The money will pay for the flight, car rental and hunting license. To spread the news about both of these exciting programs, Anthony travels around to different churches and organizations and speaks about how the Hunt of a Lifetime works and how they can start their own chapter of Christian Bowhunters.

Besides the investment that he’s made in Hunt of a Lifetime and Arrows of Faith, Anthony also invests in the lives of children through his job and volunteer work. Anthony is the Athletic Director and gym teacher at Evangel Heights Christian Academy and has taught archery at the school. He has also participated in a youth hunt camp in Tyrone PA for the last two years. He went there for a few days and instructed the youth in archery and will be doing it again this year.

If you would be interested in additional information on joining Arrows of Faith or starting your own chapter of Christian Bowhunters you can call Anthony Infante at 724-664-2905. You can also check out the Hunt of a Lifetime website at www.huntofalifetime.org and the Christian Bowhunters at www.christianbowhunters.org