Together were are bringing families together, making new friends, educating our youth about nature, and assisting in outdoor pursuitsonly made possible by such a strong base of support.2009 has been a great year so far! We started fishing with the children in April at local lakes. On May 8th, we had a good timemeeting sponsors, volunteers, and a couple of new participants at our fundraiser dinner. Fishing in June at Sandia Lakes turned outto be absolutely perfect for children with disabilities (on page two read the story titled Sandia lakes). It is now July and 2 weeks agowe went to Tingly Beach to enjoy another beautiful New Mexico day with the children. We are seeing great numbers of children attendbeginner fishing/BBQ trips. It is so rewarding to see the children getting progressively better at casting, reeling, and exploringnew terrain. They are eager and motivated to have new experiences, see new places, and in due time intermediate adaptive activitieswill fulfill their growing passion.Our pontoon boat renovation is complete and intermediate fishing opportunities are plentiful for disabled anglers. We bought a 1995pontoon boat last year knowing the extra room on the boat would be perfect for wheelchairs if modified slightly. We saved a lot offunding by doing all the renovations with volunteer work. We replaced the entire floor with heavy marine grade ply board sturdyenough to support heavy electric wheelchairs. Next we laid out hard carpet easy to maneuver a wheelchair on. Then we cleared theentire front deck to be completely accessible by removing the benches and moving the steering console back and to the side. Lastlywe cut, widened, and welded the gate in place. The new gate is 4 feet wide and our portable ramp allows wheelchairs to roll right on.New Funding sources are taking notice of people with disabilities triumphantly adapting, overcoming, and succeeding. The AlbuquerqueCommunity Foundation recently awarded us funding to help support children’s fishing activities. The New Mexico Children’sFoundation awarded funding to help support children’s adaptive horseback riding lessons. The Veteran organizations throughout thestate have steadily been the main support for veteran hunting opportunities and also extend their support to children’s activities. TheNew Mexico communities in which we live and operate continue to be the backbone of this organization connecting participants, volunteers,funding, and opportunities.Next on the agenda, looking forward to more great fishing, hunting, and horseback riding. Several more beginner and intermediatefishing trips are planned for 2009. We are also raising funds for two adaptive saddles to use in our horseback riding program. Theaddition of the saddles will enable us to advance our riding program to encompass beginner and intermediate riding. We had severalmobility impaired veteran hunters that did not draw hunting tags. We are looking for hunting tags and communicating with New MexicoGame and Fish to help make them aware that there is much needed support for mobility impaired hunters.I hope this newsletter arrived with everyone in good health. Thank you for all that you do for the mental and physical health of peoplewith disabilities. Sincerely,Dustin Berg