The first “Giving Back” Event of the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) will be held on Friday evening, June 3rd in Atlanta, Georgia.
Custom knives by well-known makers Tony Bose, Ron Lake, Ken Onion, D’Holder, Jim Hammond, Matthew Lerch, Tony Marfione, Kiku Matsuda, Brian Tighe, Bob Terzuola, Lucas Burnley, Alan Folts , and Mickey Yurco will be live auctioned during the BLADE Show at the Renaissance Waverly, Atlanta.
“Custom makers have shown tremendous support donating knives to our first ‘Giving Back’ fundraiser,” said event chair Bill Raczkowski of Gerber. “This is an excellent opportunity to own a knife by one of these great makers.”
Custom knifemakers and AKTI company members are “Giving Back” to AKTI as thanks for ensuring their ability to make and sell their knives and to the charities of their choice. Proceeds from the live auction of custom knives will go 50% to AKTI to help fund legislative and education efforts. The remaining 50% will go to the charity of the maker’s choice.
“Company members have donated great specialty and commemorative knives that will be offered as silent auction items from 7 pm to 9 pm,” explained Raczkowski. “There will also be several one-of-a-kind items for the collector.”
Benchmade, Boker, Buck Knives, Camillus, Chris Reeve, CRKT, SOG and W.R. Case have contributed to the silent auctions. Items include Boker’s Applegate Commemorative serial #1, Buck Knives’ 50th Anniversary 110 Folding Knife set, CRKT’s 20th Anniversary Ltd Edition and signed Camillus knives by Grady Powell and Jared Ogden, to name a few.
“The American Knife & Tool Institute quietly and diligently works for everyone in the knife community promoting knives as essential, valuable tools, working with legislators at the state and the federal level to clarify knife laws, and providing valuable educational information,” said CJ Buck, AKTI President. “We cannot thank these makers and company donors enough for their tremendous support. How can you go wrong spending an evening dedicated to the future of knives, with people who are passionate about knives?”
More details are available, and tickets to attend the Friday evening June 3rd event can be purchased, on AKTI’s website at www.AKTI.org
More about AKTI
The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) is a non-profit organization (501(c)6) representing all segments of the knife industry and all knife users. Formed in true grassroots fashion by concerned industry leaders after considerable discussion with individual knifemakers, knife magazine publishers, and a broad section of the knife community, AKTI has been the reasonable and responsible voice of the knife community since 1998. AKTI’s mission is to ensure that Americans will always be able to make, buy, sell, own, carry and use knives and edged tools. To learn more, please visit www.akti.org.
