Walmart trio happy to help support cause

BELLA VISTA — For the fourth year in a row the trio of Jason Ahten, Casey Clary and Derek Warren teamed up to help support the cause of the Cancer Challenge and bust up some clay pigeons in the process.

They were one of the many three-person teams to compete in the trap shooting portion of the challenge, held recently in Bella Vista.

“We’re with Walmart Environmental Safety out of the home office and we represent supply chain and home office both,” said Clary. “We basically reach out and say, ‘This is a cancer charity event going on for Northwest Arkansas families affected by cancer,’ and we reach out to our fellow employees to see who’s interested in participating. This year we had four teams representing Walmart.”

The competition took place at the Bella Vista Property Owners Association’s gun range and was divided into a morning division and afternoon division. Teams tried to reach a max score of 300.

“If we place first or second we take home a plaque with an engraved clay pigeon and some [shotgun] shells on it,” Clary said.

But while breaking up clay pigeons made for a fun competition, it was easy to tell the day was about more than shooting.

“It gives us a really good opportunity to come out and represent Walmart and get involved in the community,” he said. “It’s a fun and exciting way to give back and try to give some money back to those families in need and affected by cancer. We get to come out and shoot for fun, so it’s a great way to represent the company, give back and have fun while we do it.”

While Warren and Ahten, both from Bentonville, brought local pride to the team, Clary added a determination to contribute to the cause that showed through his willingness to travel from Sanger, Texas, to be a part of the event.

“This is a wonderful event, and we’re all happy to be able to help out,” he said. “We’re spread out a little bit, but we represent EHS across the country. It’s a pretty good diverse group we’ve got this year, and we’re all glad to be here.”

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Bennett Horne) Derek Warren shoots at a clay pigeon June 10 during the Cancer Challenge trap shooting competition in Bella Vista.