Smooth Sailing
By Tim Stouder & Katie Blunk
The June 11th event marked the Northeast Florida HOW Chapter’s 3rd event in 6 weeks. This last event was held at Cedar Point Boat Ramp with the support from the Timucuan Preserve. The storms finally subsided just long enough for us to have the event. This being the 3rd event in 6 weeks, we did see a drop in registration. Often times that would be considered bad, but we actually took advantage of the not-so-busy time and did a must needed inventory of all of our gear. We checked for serviceability/damage and anything that was missing. Now we will make repairs so that the rest of our year runs smoothly.
Duval Asphalt stepped up again this year by providing a delicious lunch. When I say lunch, they brought enough food to feed an army. Needless to say, no one went home hungry. To TJ and his crew, we say thank you so much from the entire HOW Team.
Fishing was almost non-existent on the water. There were some stingrays, bluefish, catfish and few dinks/rats caught, but nothing of table fair value except for two good flounder that were brought in. We still heard some great stories from the Veterans and their families about their day. Sometimes, it’s not so much about the fishing, but truly just being in the serenity of the water.
Many times we are asked about the money donated to our chapter and how does it get used, or who does it go to. Every dollar we raise here in the NE Florida area stays here. From our inventory this weekend, we have determined that 5 kayak seats need to be replaced. Money that has been raised and donated recently will be used to purchase new seats. In addition to that, we had a kayak have catastrophic failure at our event 2 weeks ago and it will also be replaced. Everyone on the Leadership Team and all of our guides are completely volunteers. Not one of us gets paid to assist our veterans.
This year has moved along quickly. We just had a meeting as a team and are gearing up for our Veterans Day Event Saturday, November 11th. Just an early heads up that our team will be reaching out to many of you for prizes/gift card donations for our free raffle to our veterans. Every vet goes home with a prize as we honor them for their service. Stay tuned as more information will be coming up throughout the next months and we get closer to the event.
About Heroes on the Water
Heroes on The Water is a non-profit organization that helps injured service members with their physical and mental recovery using the therapeutic qualities of fishing from kayaks. Every HOW event across the country brings together wounded military personnel for guided kayak fishing excursions. Founded in 2007, HOW has served more than 27,924 wounded Veterans. The service is provided to the Veterans for free. HOW is a non-profit organization under IRS Code Chapter 501(c)(3). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Visit www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
The next Heroes on the Water outing is scheduled for July 16th @Browns Creek Fish Camp. If you are a Veteran, know of one that would like to participate, or if you are interested in volunteering or any other questions please contact Coordinator Tim Stouder at NortheastFlorida@HeroesOnTheWater.org .
If you would like to follow us on Facebook or make a donation to Heroes on the Water, you can do so at https://www.facebook.com/HeroesOnTheWaterNortheastFloridaChapter.