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Inclusive hunting trip tears down Okanagan disability barriers

CRIS, Rempel Builders and AWE provide once-in-a-lifetime adventure
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The third annual Rembel Builders Accessible Hunting Trip is looking to bring one individual with a disability along with them in October. (Rempel Builders photo)

As the leaves begin to turn and the evening air gets cooler, a group of hunters has taken aim at giving someone with a disability a chance to explore the wilderness with them.

The Rempel Builders Family and Accessible Wilderness Expeditions (AWE) program are partnering again, and searching for one lucky individual who lives with a disability to join them in a fully sponsored four-day inclusive and accessible hunting trip to Grand Forks in October.

The third annual trip is open to someone who has a passion for hunting and lives with a barrier to participating. Applications, due Sept. 3, can be emailed to laurae@accesswilderness.ca.

Last year’s trip participant and AWE ambassador, William McCreight, said the experience was a trip of a lifetime, and a memory he will hold forever.

“It was my first time getting back in the wilderness since my spinal cord injury,” McCreight said. “It’s difficult to put it into words, the feeling of getting back onto my journey of where it all began.”

AWE is a program that is part of a non-profit organization called Community Recreational Initiatives Society (CRIS). Since 2001, CRIS has provided adapted sport and recreation to individuals in the Okanagan and beyond.

AWE enables their clients to reach new limits in the wilderness and get back to doing what they love. These trips are real; they challenge all aspects of thinking and all perceptions of ability. Removing physical and psychological barriers to outdoor recreation is not a small defeat.

Rempel Builders has been involved with the Community Recreational Initiatives Society (CRIS) since 2019 in sponsoring wildnerness trips.

“We were so impressed with the professionalism and overall impact of the trip that we’ve come on board as a major sponsor of the AWE program, ensuring that year after year, there are no barriers to accessing the wilderness,” Rempel Builders owner and president Reg Rempel said.

For more information about the AWE program, visit accesswilderness.ca.

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Jennifer Smith

About the Author: Jennifer Smith

Vernon has always been my home, and I've been working at The Morning Star since 2004.
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