Wounded Warrior Boot Camp
Event Information
Learn MoreWounded Warrior ‘Boot Camp’ – Where Veterans Mentor Youth with Special Needs ‘Military Style’ If there is something that soldiers and Marines are good at, it is leading from the front and working as a team to serve. These ideals will be evident as regional Wounded Warriors are paired up one-on- one with youth having a variety of disabilities in a military–style “Boot Camp” retreat at the STRIDE Center for Outdoor Recreation and Education (SCORE) in Chatham, NY. In a program run by STRIDE Adaptive Sports, the youth will experience an unforgettable weekend with the hometown heroes as they sleep on cots in barracks style canvas tents, wear military style uniforms, and take orders from the veterans at a campsite named ‘Yellow Ribbon’ pavilion. The Warriors will break camp on Thursday afternoon August 17, 2023 as they get to know each other and prepare for the youths’ Friday afternoon arrivals and subsequent activities. Each veteran will mentor a STRIDE youth athlete with a similar disability for a weekend of learning together. The educational theme for the two days together in the woods will be military etiquette, culture, and habits. Activities will include flag-raising and lowering and flag folding; salute and command etiquette; sampling MRE’s; wilderness survival lessons; paintball target shooting; and archery. On Saturday, the entire group will head to Jiminy Peak Aerial Adventure Park to foster leadership and team work. In addition to being a fun-filled camping retreat, STRIDE’s Wounded Warrior Boot Camp aims to have additional therapeutic healing benefits for the participating veterans with service-related injuries as they mentor the youth. Meals, general camping gear, transportation and gifts will be provided for all participants by STRIDE, with generous grant funding from Move United and its Warfighter Sports program.
Map
Aug 17 - Aug 20 