2022 Volunteer of the Week- Gregory Nyce

"At 36 years old, Greg is the youngest volunteer Chairman I have ever had. He's been a Firefighter for Picatinny Arsenal Fire Department in Picatinny, NJ for the last 7 years. Prior to that, he served in the United States Army for eight years. He is an Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran since he was deployed to Afghanistan, with the 3rd Squadron 4th Cavalry, where he earned his Combat Action Badge and Army Commendation. His hobbies include spending time with his family’s horses, hunting, and fishing with his wife and two children. Greg says, 'There is no greater feeling in life then passing the torch to my children and watching them learn to love what you do. Teaching my children how to shoot and hunt the safe and moral way gives a father no greater blessing. It is my greatest achievement in life to teach them and watch them grow into well-rounded youth.'

Greg got involved with Montgomery County Friends of NRA and the 4H shooting sports when he was 12 years old thanks to his Father, Greg Nyce, another Friends of NRA volunteer. He cut his teeth shooting at 4H small bore competitions in Pennsylvania, and then with the NRA Junior Rifle Sportsmanship Program at his local club, Branch Valley Fish and Game. Eventually, he found the NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) program. Being tremendously successful, he competed in the Pennsylvania State Championships, National Championships, and even took first place in the Hunter Safety Trail.

After being involved with Montgomery County Friends of NRA for several years, Greg became the committee Chairman in 2018. Since then, his committee has done fantastic. A big feature at their event is table packages. In Greg's first year as Chairman, he helped raise the table package sales from 7 packages sold to 17 packages sold, which made the net income increase by more than $5,000. Then, in 2020 when the Pandemic began, Greg found a local fire hall pavilion where they could still hold their event in August, but be outside. This event raised over $24,000!

Greg is excellent at maintaining contact with both his Field Representative and committee members. He is the first to jump in when any problems arise, and has volunteered on other local Friends of NRA committees as needed. Greg even orchestrated a gun raffle between three local committees, which helped boost fundraising for all three. Greg says, 'My greatest contribution to Friends of NRA has been the ability to recruit and lead a great committee. Since becoming Chairman, our committee increased attendance by over 100 people. However, my greatest contribution is investing in our local youth shooting sports teams. At the end of the day, this is what is most important to me; watching these young men and women succeed and advance in the knowledge of shooting, hunting, and supporting the Second Amendment.'

It is with great pride that I nominate Greg as the 2021 Eastern Pennsylvania Volunteer of the Year. Greg’s contributions to the area and our Friends events is immeasurable. He is the heart and soul of the committee, and is instrumental each year at our Eastern Pennsylvania State Fund Committee meetings. Greg is a ‘mover and a shaker’ around the Southeast corner of Pennsylvania- his passion for what we do as a program shines through in everything he does. In conclusion, I think Greg sums it up best with this quote at the end of each of his emails- 'Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate, and strive to be the best at what you do.'"

-  Kory Enck, former NRA Field Representative