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Hunting is a life-long passion for Kelly Bingham, president of USW Local 12-578 at the Holly Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. So he was more than overwhelmed when he won a hunting trip to Africa.

“I had to fight back tears. It’s really neat that something like this could happen to someone like me,” Bingham said of the trip he won through Escape to the Wild, a television show of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and sponsoring unions and contractor associations on VERSUS Country (formerly OLN).

The program honors hardworking union members with the hunting or fishing trip of a lifetime. And there is no doubt Bingham is hardworking both on the job and in his community.  As a local union president, a program coordinator for the Utah chapter of Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry and a member of nine other hunting, fishing and conservation organizations, Bingham is dedicated to making a difference – especially for the next generation of union workers and sportsmen.

“Everything I have that comes from my job is because my union brothers and sisters stood up for what was right and made it better for my generation,” he said.

Just prior to leaving for South Africa in May 2007, Bingham said he could hardly focus on anything else as he dreamed about hunting kudu and gemsbuck.  “I already have in my mind how I want them mounted,” he said, adding that he looked forward to seeing South Africa, experiencing its culture and sharing his story of union and community involvement.

Season two of Escape to the Wild begins in January 2008 on Versus Network.  Tune in to watch your union brother as he stalks dangerous game on safari.

Join brother Kelly Bingham as he stalks dangerous game in South Africa.  All new Escape to the Wild series begins in January on VERSUS Country, Fridays at 7pm (ET) with encore airings Sundays at 10am (ET).