North Jersey's NRA Friends Dinner Likely Broke Its Own Record
The North Jersey Friends of NRA dinner on Oct. 7, 2026 likely set a new fundraising record, according to preliminary reports from committee leaders John and J.J. Occhipinti. More than 500 people attended, making it the second-largest Friends dinner in the country. The final tally is not yet calculated. John Occhipinti says net proceeds could have doubled compared with 2025. Half the New Jersey money goes to an NRA charitable arm, and the other half stays in the Garden State. Occhipinti plans to direct a large share of the in-state money toward youth shooting programs.
Key Details
The numbers and names behind the event are specific, and most of them come from the committee's own accounting and remarks.
- Event date and size: Oct. 7, 2026, with more than 500 participants.
- Prior-year comparison: Occhipinti said last year's dinner netted $80,000, though he admitted he was unsure of the exact figure.
- Keynote: NRA President Bill Bachenberg spoke at both the VIP event and the dinner.
- Other staff: NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford, NRA Executive Director of Advancement Susannah Kipke, and Whittington Center advancement officer Nate Brown attended.
- Board presence: Three of New Jersey's four NRA directors attended: Anthony Colandro, Theresa Inacker, and Amy Heath Lovato. Pennsylvania directors Janet Nyce and Todd Ellis came, along with Ohio director Amanda Suffecool.
- State leadership: State Director Joe LoPorto traveled down from New England, and New Jersey State Director Darin Goens met members at the dinner.
- VIP event: Held at the Woodland Park Range, Gun For Hire raised about $6,000 from tickets and direct donations, separate from the dinner. Co-owners Colandro, Richard Olenick, and Matt Dancsecs gave $20,000 combined from personal accounts to NRA-ILA.
- Donated product: Gun For Hire contributed about $25,000 in firearms, gift cards, and swag. It handed out 525 gift cards worth $25 each and saved the committee more than $7,000 on T-shirts.
- WeShoot participation: Co-owner Mark Abady brought a full table, including Eli Bivas, Vinny Bellino, and instructor Heidi Bergmann-Schoch.
Background
The Friends of NRA program is the NRA's main fundraising vehicle for its charitable and educational work. Donations through Friends are tax deductible, and the money goes into one of the Association's 501(c)(3) organizations. For years, that money flowed to the NRA Foundation. Disputes and litigation between the NRA and that sister organization changed the arrangement. The NRA now directs charitable giving to the Patriot Fund or the Freedom Action Foundation.
The fight between the two groups is part of a longer run of internal legal trouble at the NRA, including scrutiny from state regulators over how the organization spent and reported money. That history matters because dinner committees rely on donors trusting where the checks go. Local organizers now have to explain a more complicated structure to people who just want to know their money supports shooting sports. The committee's response has been to keep the New Jersey split visible: half to a national (c)(3), half kept local.
Those dinners are also a political tool. The NRA separates Friends fundraising from its legislative work, so Colandro used the VIP event to raise money for the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. The Friends program itself is apolitical, while the ILA fundraiser is not.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
If you shoot in New Jersey, this dinner is more than a party. The in-state half of the money goes to grants, and Occhipinti says the committee has recently been meeting grant requests in full. Ranges, clubs, and youth programs that need equipment, coaching budgets, or range time should apply. The committee's chairs were scheduled to review applications after tallying their totals, so timing matters. Ask your local Friends chapter when its grant cycle opens.
Gun owners who donate should keep records. Friends contributions are tax deductible according to the program, but your deduction depends on your own filing and whether you itemize. Check with your tax preparer before you count on it. Donors who give through a dinner should also ask which 501(c)(3) receives the money, since the NRA now splits giving between the Patriot Fund and the Freedom Action Foundation.
Businesses should note what this dinner shows about the New Jersey market. Competing ranges and shops shared a room, and the donated product and gift cards brought foot traffic to a single facility. Ranges that want visibility in the local shooting community have a clear template: show up, give product, and bring staff.
DownRange Analysis
A fundraising dinner does not change New Jersey's gun laws. Those laws face the Second Amendment test set by New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022, which asks whether modern restrictions match the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Money can fund the lawyers, research, and grassroots pressure that take those cases forward, but it cannot win them alone. The ILA side of this event is where that work happens, and the dinner's cash helps pay for it.
The bigger signal is the coordination. Ranges that compete for customers agreed to share a room, and that cooperation tends to matter when a bill lands in Trenton. Organized shooters with a shared budget and common contacts outlast single-issue groups.
So what should you do now? Find your local Friends chapter, join the NRA if you have not, and ask whether youth programs in your area have applied for grants. If you run a range or shop, volunteer for the next dinner and offer product. Money raised in one night only works if people use it.
