Paralyzed Veterans of America-Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund (PVA-ORHF) recently announced the launch of “100,000 Patriots”their newest program to help injured veterans step outside again and enjoy hunting, shooting, and fishing.
“Operation ‘100,000 Patriots’,” explained Lt. Col. Lew Deal, USMC (ret), PVA-ORHF’s National Program Coordinator, “is an initiative to help our wounded warriors recover by creating opportunities for and involving them in hunting, shooting and fishing activities. PVA’s Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund is focused on helping our injured vets get back to living as full a life as possible. We have seen time and time again that getting them out on a deer hunt or once again enjoying the site of clay birds breaking on the skeet range is great therapy.”
Those outdoor activities, however, don’t come without cost and Operation “100,000 Patriots” was created to encourage donations that will form a permanent endowment for the ORHF. “We are looking for 100,000 patriotic Americans who will say ‘Thank You!’ to our troops by donating just $20.00 each to help us build the fund and allow PVA to continue putting our deserving, injured military men and women in hunting blinds, in bass boats and on the shooting line.”
Most of the outdoor opportunities for the rehabilitating veterans are donated by private individuals or clubs around the country but Deal explained there are more injured warriors than there are opportunities. “We have thousands of men and women who have returned from war with varying degrees of injuries-far more deserving veterans than available hunts or other trips. We have great need for more outdoor opportunities and for enough funds to cover the costs of a soldier’s participation.”
PVA (est. 1946) has proven these outdoor experiences help the vets find joy again and regain confidence in themselves and their abilities-a positive step toward being part again of main-stream life. The challenge for the ORHF is to provide more opportunities so more vets can be involved and helped. Donations to Operation “100,000 Patriots” will do just that.
