A colon cancer diagnosis at 38 changed Terry Boyce’s life.
Doctors told him he had stage 4 cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes, liver and kidneys.
They advised him to “go home and get my affairs in order,” Boyce said.
Out of adversity sprang Dream Hunt and Fishing Program, Boyce’s wish-granting nonprofit which last year touched the lives of 25,000 children suffering critical diseases or disabling physical handicaps and children of deceased first responders.
“There is nobody who puts more time into a sport, a hobby or a job as this man puts into Dream Hunt and Fishing Program,” said Ryan Boyce, Terry’s 48-year old son. “His wheels don’t stop turning.”
Along the way, Boyce has enlisted help from Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dale Jr. Foundation, WalMart, Avangrid Renewables, Sentara Health Systems, the Albemarle Area United Way, McDonald’s franchisee Bill Taylor, and Chris and Wayne Perry at Perry Chevrolet.
Scores of individuals like Karen Jackson, an assistant in a financial adviser’s office, and Norman Watts, a retired NC Fish and Wildlife officer, work side by side with Boyce on projects.
None of these folks are paid for their efforts. Together they stage a swan, goose and duck hunt in January, bass fishing in April, surf fishing in May and pier fishing in September at Jennette’s Pier, and a deer hunt in November. Camp Cale in Perquimans County is the site of river, sound and woodland education events.
More than 5,000 children attended these events last year. Participating children and their parents or guardians pay nothing for these excursions. Another 20,000 people toured one of Boyce’s mobile wildlife education trailers during the year. Visitors are able to see and touch fish, game and non-game species native to our region.
Boyce’s project is an example of the uniquely American way of solving challenges: get up; get your friends involved; enlist the private sector; and fix the problem.
Boyce, a Northeastern High School and Beaufort Tech graduate, was well into his career as a U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigator specializing in ferreting out unauthorized airplane parts, especially those sold to the U.S. Coast Guard, when he got his cancer diagnosis. His twin brother, Jerry Boyce, and their father, Richard Boyce, both died from the disease.
“Every member of my family has passed away from cancer,” Boyce said.
He continued to work while enduring nine months of chemotherapy and six intensive weeks of radiation. Boyce dreamed of sharing his love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors with the youngsters he met who were battling cancer.
“It’s been a good thing for me because I’ve been able to do a lot more for other people,” Boyce said of his ordeal.
At first, Boyce was an instructor for the NC Hunter Safety Program when he wasn’t chasing bogus airplane parts. State funding dried up after a year during the 1999-2002 recession.
Dream Hunt and Fishing Program was born. It has relied on private funding for 25 years.
Boyce has visions of a banquet hall, garage space for two wildlife trailers, classrooms and an office somewhere in Pasquotank County. Architect David Woods has volunteered his design services and Boyce is looking for land. Boyce is still working on funding for the project.
One of Dream Hunt’s first alumni was so moved by the experience that she became a pediatric oncology nurse in the Wilmington area. Her Christmas cards are among those that fill the Boyce mailbox every December.
“I’ve never said I wanted this to be about me. It’s about the kids,” Boyce said.
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