Kidz Outdoors works around the year to give special-needs children across the country hunting and fishing opportunities they would otherwise not have.
The Alabama Power Foundation recently presented the nonprofit with a grant that will help Kidz Outdoors continue its work.
Based in Hueytown, Alabama, Kidz Outdoors has sent hundreds of kids on hunting and fishing trips. Other outdoor activities include swimming with dolphins and more.
All the children in the program have some type of disability or other health challenge. A recent hunt in Marengo County included those ages 9 to 21 with cancer, brittle bone disease, cerebral palsy, missing limbs and other conditions.
Later this year, the nonprofit plans to bring a young man who was paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident at age 5 from his home in Anchorage, Alaska to hunt deer and pheasants in Alabama.
“He would otherwise never have this opportunity. It’s amazing how these children have reacted, the positive impact these trips have made and how it’s affected their personalities,” said Carol Clark, Kidz Outdoors executive director. “Alabama Power Foundation has been a blessing and an asset for us and a huge supporter of Kidz Outdoors.”
Established in 2013, the organization works to instill a love of the outdoors with a new generation while raising money for hospitals and research centers in hope of finding cures for cancer and other childhood diseases.
More than 4,000 children have participated in Kidz Outdoors events and more than $500,000 has been raised over the past six years.
“Alabama Power Foundation is excited to pass on a passion for the great outdoors and share the importance of being good stewards of the environment with young people, especially those with special needs,” said Susan Comensky, Alabama Power vice president of Environmental Affairs.
Kidz Outdoors has chapters in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky. For more information, visit kidzoutdoors.org or see National Kidz Outdoors on Facebook.
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)
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