Warfighters Sports, a member of Challenged Athletes of West Virginia, visited St. Paul’s United Methodist Church for breakfast. The group visited last year and the trip is for active and retired veterans and their families. The group is staying at Canaan Valley Resort and will have opportunities at many outings such as biking, caving, fly fishing, horseback riding, golf, skeet and canoeing.
This is a family oriented trip and the intent is to expose families to things they can do together. Bryan Kempa, from Illinois, has been here for three outings, this year with his whole family. Chris Bowers, from Fredericksburg, Va. along with his companion dog Gunner, returned this year to enjoy a great time. He said, “I really look forward to coming back to the area and even bought a life jacket for Gunner for the canoe trip.” Scott and Helen Riddle, of Md. returned for the second year and Chad and Janice Blankenship, of Va. along with their family was also in attendance, along with a host of other participants.
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church sponsored the breakfast this year and members hosted with a great breakfast of pancakes, buckwheat cakes, biscuits, gravy, French toast, eggs, much more and drinks. Debbie Stevens stated, “We are so happy to have these folks come back to our area and enjoy the wonders of West Virginia.”
The breakfast was enjoyed by over 50 family members, volunteers and staff of Warfighters Sports.
The group was off for a canoe trip and returned to Canaan Valley Resort that evening for a pig roast.
Warfighter Sports, a program of Disabled Sports USA, offers sports rehabilitation programs in military hospitals and communities across the U.S. through a nationwide network of over 100 community-based chapters. Warfighter Sports serves severely injured military, both active duty and veterans, with a permanent physical disability such as amputation, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, visual impairments and significant nerve and muscle damage.
Warfighter Sports offers more than 30 winter and summer adaptive sports through over 150 events annually. These nationwide sports experiences include skiing, snowboarding, cycling, wheelchair basketball, track and field, watersports and much more.
Warfighters and their guests are provided programs free of charge, including individualized adaptive instruction, adaptive equipment, transportation, event fees and lodging.