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Kayak Fishing Program for Wounded Warriors Awarded $50,000 Grant
ALLEN, Texas The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced July 30 that it had awarded a $50,000 grant to support the Kayak Anglers Society of America's Heroes on the Water program. This program is designed to introduce the rehabilitative aspects of kayak angling to veterans recovering from war injuries. .
The Texas non-profit was formed in 2007 by avid kayak anglers who also happened to be veterans of the United States armed forces.
With a stated goal of increasing access to and participation in kayak angling nationwide, it didn't take long for KASA founders to reach out to wounded warriors at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
"Working with program managers at BAMC and Fort Sam Houston, we were able to take our first soldier kayak fishing in October of last year," said KASA treasurer and board member Jim Dolan, a former U.S. Air Force C-130 pilot. "From there it just kind of grew. By December, we were on our fifth trip, trout fishing on the Blanco River with eight wounded warriors."
Dolan said the TPWD grant is "bootstrap money" that will help the organization acquire paddling and fishing equipment and pay some of the transportation costs associated with the outings.
"We've had tremendous interest in this program," Dolan said. "We've actually had more people interested in going out with us than we had money or volunteers to accommodate. This grant will really help, but it's just a start."
Danny Paschall, a board member and former enlisted soldier who now works in the oil and gas industry in Houston, said time on the water and recovery from war wounds is a pretty good match.
"To begin with, kayak fishing is an independent activity that almost anyone can participate in," he said. "It can be just as serene and relaxing or just as exciting and fast-paced as you want it to be. It's also a lifetime skill that people can continue to enjoy well into their senior years."
Past participants in the outings have suffered injuries ranging from amputations to burns to traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We haven't had anyone who couldn't comfortably paddle and fish," said KASA board member Kendal Larson, a professional photographer who also served in the Air Force. "Those plastic boats are great equalizers. The relaxation and empowerment we see in the troops is strong stuff."
KASA has plans for as many as a dozen outings in the next year, all of which are free to participants.
For more information on KASA programs, including Heroes on the Water, or to donate, visit the KASA Web site. Certification of KASA as a non-profit educational organization under IRS Code Chapter 501(c)(3) is pending, and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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On the Net:
http://www.KayakAnglersSA.org
Media Contact: Jim Dolan, 214-295-4541, or [email protected]
The Texas non-profit was formed in 2007 by avid kayak anglers who also happened to be veterans of the United States armed forces.
With a stated goal of increasing access to and participation in kayak angling nationwide, it didn't take long for KASA founders to reach out to wounded warriors at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
"Working with program managers at BAMC and Fort Sam Houston, we were able to take our first soldier kayak fishing in October of last year," said KASA treasurer and board member Jim Dolan, a former U.S. Air Force C-130 pilot. "From there it just kind of grew. By December, we were on our fifth trip, trout fishing on the Blanco River with eight wounded warriors."
Dolan said the TPWD grant is "bootstrap money" that will help the organization acquire paddling and fishing equipment and pay some of the transportation costs associated with the outings.
"We've had tremendous interest in this program," Dolan said. "We've actually had more people interested in going out with us than we had money or volunteers to accommodate. This grant will really help, but it's just a start."
Danny Paschall, a board member and former enlisted soldier who now works in the oil and gas industry in Houston, said time on the water and recovery from war wounds is a pretty good match.
"To begin with, kayak fishing is an independent activity that almost anyone can participate in," he said. "It can be just as serene and relaxing or just as exciting and fast-paced as you want it to be. It's also a lifetime skill that people can continue to enjoy well into their senior years."
Past participants in the outings have suffered injuries ranging from amputations to burns to traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We haven't had anyone who couldn't comfortably paddle and fish," said KASA board member Kendal Larson, a professional photographer who also served in the Air Force. "Those plastic boats are great equalizers. The relaxation and empowerment we see in the troops is strong stuff."
KASA has plans for as many as a dozen outings in the next year, all of which are free to participants.
For more information on KASA programs, including Heroes on the Water, or to donate, visit the KASA Web site. Certification of KASA as a non-profit educational organization under IRS Code Chapter 501(c)(3) is pending, and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
---
On the Net:
http://www.KayakAnglersSA.org
Media Contact: Jim Dolan, 214-295-4541, or [email protected]