FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 STRIDE, Inc.  476 N. Greenbush Road, Suite 9 Rensselaer NY 12144
     
Contact: Mary Ellen Whitney
Tel: (518) 598-1279  
E-mail:         mwhitney@stride.org
Wounded Warriors learn Archery at STRIDE’s new range
Expanding local programming for integrated disabled youth and Veterans of the Armed Forces

For Immediate Release
(Chatham, NY) – Local and regional veterans with disabilities will come together from the region to discover a new therapeutic sport, archery on Tuesday July 2 from 10 am til 2 pm. . The newly built range in the deep woods of STRIDE Adaptive Sports Camp facility, is offering a discovery day to veterans form Stratton VA and around the region.  Although archery is often perceived as a non-aerobic sport, competitive archers actually use a great deal of strength and endurance and require a sort of zen-like focus to perform well. There are many therapeutic health benefits to participating in archery. U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), provided STRIDE Adaptive Sports with a 2012 Olympic Opportunity Fund grant to build the range. Funding was used to build and develop a shooting and archery program at the new SCORE Center in Columbia county. SCORE (STRIDE Center for Outdoor Recreation & Education) is an 85 acre camping facility used as an integrated facility for youth and veterans teaching adaptive sports, outdoor education and camping programs year-round.
If you build it, they will come! Tuesday July 2, veterans from Stratton VA and Warriors who have participated In other STRIDE programs are invited to learn and discover the sport.  STRIDE is committed to increasing the number and quality of opportunities for physically and visually impaired individuals to participate in physical activity within their home communities.
“We are extremely proud of the development of this newly built range. It is accessible by hardpack trail or vehicle, thanks to Eagle Scout project creating a wheelchair accessible trail to the location.  We’ve been teaching archery with a portable target and school bows since 1995. To have a range facility, and good equipment available to develop a seasonal program integrating our Warrior and youth population, is a dream come true,.” said Mary Ellen Whitney, CEO and Founder of the local organization.
The $11,000 grant funding was utilized for archery and grounds & range maintenance equipment for SCORE; as well as development, partnership and education for the programs has been instituted into STRIDE’s year round programming.

~STRIDE is a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children and individuals with disabilities through sports and recreation programs. ~

 If you would like more information about this event, or to schedule an interview, please call Mary Ellen Whitney at (518) 598-1279 or e-mail mwhitney@stride.org