WINDHAM, N.Y. – The Adaptive Sports Foundation’s Warriors in Motion® program will hit the water next week with its first paddling/kayaking event of the summer from July 19-21.

The Warriors in Motion (WIM) program provides participating injured United States servicemen and women with a basic knowledge and practice of wellness and the importance of lifelong healthy living. All Warriors in Motion programs are goal oriented and empower the warrior to take charge of their own fitness and wellness.

Retired Army Veteran Saul Rojas has been coming to ASF for about four years, but he’s looking forward to his first paddling event next week. “I’m looking forward to learning something new,” Rojas said. “To see if I can kayak on my own and not depend on anybody else. I want to lose the fear of the water.”

“The Warriors in Motion program helps me out because when I’m around other veterans, my mentality changes,” Rojas, an ASF regular, explained. “I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder. It recharges my battery to go back to civilian life and start doing it all over again.”

Eight veterans, including Rojas, and several volunteers will convene at the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday for a meet and greet and a lunch before the group heads over to nearby Camp Oh-Ne-Tah. The ASF has various kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and more stored at the camp’s lake, giving the participants easy access to the water for the first day of the event. After a few hours of paddling, the veterans will make their way to the hotel before returning to the ASF lodge for a dinner.

Day two will start at 9 a.m. when the ASF shuttle bus will pick up the warriors from the hotel. From there, the group will go to North-South Lake, located southeast of Windham, where the veterans will paddle from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. with lunch on the shore in the middle. The group will then return to the hotel to get ready for another dinner at ASF.

Thursday will feature a trip to Colgate Lake in East Jewett for the week’s final session, which is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. The warriors will paddle there for a few hours before they head back to the Adaptive Sports Center for lunch and goodbyes.

Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the ASF will be able to provide water bottles, all meals, hotel rooms, snacks, water, sports drinks, sunscreen, bug spray, ponchos (if necessary) and maps, both digital and paper copies. If you’d like to donate to the Adaptive Sports Foundation’s Warriors in Motion program, or any of the other programs the ASF has to offer, click here.