Henry Repeating Arms President and owner Anthony Imperato, through his company’s’ charitable “Guns For Great Causes” program, has donated a series of 65 custom “Prayers For Preslie” edition rifles. Funds raised from their sale and auction will benefit the family of a 3-year-old Michigan girl battling leukemia.
In April, Preslie Mantsch was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Thomas Mantsch, her father and a first responder for his city’s fire department, received the news as he waited in the Milwaukee Children’s Hospital parking lot. Covid-19 restrictions prevented him from being in the same room with his wife and daughter when doctors delivered the devastating news. Preslie is currently undergoing treatment in Milwaukee, WI, 4 1/2 hours from home, four to five days a week. She has two years of treatment left.
“Preslie is a magical, kind-hearted, wonderful, smart, and caring little girl,” Thomas said. “She has a fighting spirit, and I am praying that she beats this. It is nerve-wracking to be working so close to the coronavirus frontlines with a daughter that is immunocompromised because of her chemo. We’re taking every precaution to keep her safe, but it’s hard.”
Imperato said, “It is heart-wrenching to think of what children like Preslie and their families have to go through when they get a diagnosis as serious as leukemia. We get so personally invested into each of our Guns For Great Causes benefits as soon as we see the first photo of the kid’s smile, and we hope this goes a long way to helping the Mantsch family in these most challenging of times.”
The rifles were made available for purchase directly through the Henry Repeating Arms website on Oct. 6 and sold out within a matter of hours. More than $39,000 was raised, but enthusiasts can still help by bidding on the first and last rifles in the series, which are currently up for auction on Gunbroker.com. All proceeds collected from the “Prayers For Preslie” rifles will be presented to the Mantsch family of Iron River, MI.
The “Prayers For Preslie” Edition Golden Boy Silver rifles are chambered in .22 S/L/LR and feature a nickel-plated receiver cover, buttplate, and barrel band with a deeply blued steel octagon barrel. The genuine American walnut buttstock is engraved with an orange leukemia awareness ribbon in the middle of stylized butterfly wings, symbolizing hope and Preslie’s endurance. Above the butterfly are the words, “Prayers For Preslie,” in matching bright orange. Baron Engraving of Trumbull, CT, donated the engraving work and hand-painted details. Each rifle in the series is marked with a unique serial number ranging, with “PRESLIE01” and “PRESLIE65” the ones currently up for bid.
Visit this special Henry Repeating Arms page for more about the “Prayers For Preslie” edition series.
