Operation Desert Kayak Fish

I'm assuming that this all legit, I mean the site looks nice. Allen are you familiar with this group or their staff?
http://www.kayakanglerssa.org/clubs/KASAPrograms/KASAStaff/tabid/137/Default.aspx

I think a joint NWKA donation would be ideal.

Roy, "UBL"  what is that?  Is that like an IED or something?

BoxOfRain, I think you meant to match Roy's generous $100.   

Brian

All,
have been digging thru the KASA site some more.. it came to me that this is not the 1st time i'd run across this bunch, but it is the 1st for the idea they have.. so, i read a few more pages.. will be going to Madigan Army Meidcal Center on Fort Lewis  thurs/friday night after work to find out more.. here's why;

http://www.kayakanglerssa.org/clubs/HeroesontheWater/tabid/115/Default.aspx

will pass on what i find out .

LOL, good idea on sending Brian..He'll probably go fishing somewhere and find UBL.. 

Ah.. Roy.. when you typed "UBL" did you really mean "OBL" as in Osama bin Laden?  Or is there an Ulrich bin Laden I don't know about?

yea his brother, your not gonna find OBL....

butt yea, i spelt it rong..

OK, i sent them an E-Mail to get more more details. Waiting to hear back.

It says KASA has just launched, but have held 3 events already. The ones in the link Rich posted. I agree on the donated stuff over money.

I'll post the details when i get 'em. MY 100's good for whatever device we use to help the troops.

no, roy's correct, it's actually U B L , also known as high value target #1.

He's Usama on the ten most wanted list.dam, i love being right..

All,
have been digging thru the KASA site some more.. it came to me that this is not the 1st time i'd run across this bunch, but it is the 1st for the idea they have.. so, i read a few more pages.. will be going to Madigan Army Meidcal Center on Fort Lewis  thurs/friday night after work to find out more.. here's why;

http://www.kayakanglerssa.org/clubs/HeroesontheWater/tabid/115/Default.aspx

will pass on what i find out .

Richard, let me know what you find out about this program.  I'll gladly donate some of my time and resources to take vets (disabled or otherwise) out kayak fishing.

-Allen

u got it.  will be hitting them up starting thursday..... but lets not lose sight of brians initial post, either..

I sent this outfit an E-Mail on wednesday and still haven't heard back from them... I guess i'll send a follow-up email and see if they reply.If not soon, i think a different outlet for our donations might be in order.

Did you get a chance to find out anything about this place from Madigan Rich?

thanx for the lead in , Roy, had been planning on doing this tuesday evening, but what the hey;

yep, have been to Madigan Army Hospital. the only person there who even knew who Project Healing Waters is , was the secretary at the occupational therapy clinic.

apparently, they spend 2 days a week with the Warrior Transition Battalion, teaching those who want to learn to fly fish and tie flies...but not much else.

i gave the lady a sheet of paper with my contact info, pole's contact info [ what little i have] and the URL for here. she is going to pass that on to the PHW reps when they show up at the hospital this coming Tuesday.. so hopefully, we will hear something from them soon..

apparently, KASA.org isn't represented on Fort Lewis at all. i'm not giving up on contact from that end, cause i still gots vatos locos back home in san antone who can get me connected to them.

the other group? Heroes on the Water? the "splinter" of KASA.org? never heard of them here, either. but, i think that may be because of the slow and low profile of it's parent organization.

again, am not giving up on this... and yes, very willing to do the footwork to help us represent the community..

i have another route available, too. i have an annual VA appointment for my back on the 29th at the lakewood v a and am going to dwaddle there afterwards, drift fishing thru the various veterans outreach groups that have small offices on the campus, looking for contacts who can steer us in the right direction to hook up.

sorry if this seems like pulling hens teeth, but we gots to work with what they gots out there for points of contact.

i have another idea that i want to bounce into our collective thought stream;

would it hurt us, to compose as a group, signed by members of the group,  an email to KASA and PHW extending our good wishes and intentions?? i'm thinking that may have a bit more impact than us stoning them with individual emails.

oh, and one last thing...i've found that it helps you get more notice when dealing with other online communities, vendors, etc, if you use a signature block at the end of your email that looks like this

your name
aka member name
northwestkayakanglers.com

yes, it's a liberty i took , in good faith, that adds a bit of credence to our emails. if the admins feel i over stepped, please feel free to tell me,,
Rich 

 

I sent this outfit an E-Mail on wednesday and still haven't heard back from them... I guess i'll send a follow-up email and see if they reply.If not soon, i think a different outlet for our donations might be in order.

Did you get a chance to find out anything about this place from Madigan Rich?

Any word from them?  Drew from Aquahunters heard back from them pretty quickly and from an email conversation with them thinks they are legit.

-Allen

guys, i've gotten absolutely zero for replies out here. am not sure what i am doing wrong.

i have to go back to VA again in the morning for vampires to poke me, so am going to persue that angle more aggressively.

i am also going to stop back at Madigan on way back to work from VA, and attempt to make contact again...

sorry, but i could use some help from the rest of the membership, since it seems i'm working a dry well.

Allen:

If I can get a Kevlar kayak, I'd go.  I am just dreaming of rigging a Kevlar kayak with a big machine gun on a scotty mount.  Do you guys sell the AK47 Scotty mount?  It's also an excuse to where dessert camo. 

Jim

I sent this outfit an E-Mail on wednesday and still haven't heard back from them... I guess i'll send a follow-up email and see if they reply.If not soon, i think a different outlet for our donations might be in order.

Did you get a chance to find out anything about this place from Madigan Rich?

Any word from them?  Drew from Aquahunters heard back from them pretty quickly and from an email conversation with them thinks they are legit.

-Allen

No, never heard a word from them. I even sent a follow-up email, not a word. I don't know whats up with them.

There is always other outlets though. The phone cards or wounded warriors are two good things. A phone card and a sticker maybe, or a small package with some items. If we go that route i can take care of the packaging and shipping once we figure out what to get for them.

just some ideas, what do you guys think?

VA results today;

found volunteer services in bldg 9 at lakewood V.A.  there was no one there, so i waited for 20 minutes. finally someone showed up. i introduced myself to her and explained that i am a member of this group and we are trying to reach out and join with project healing waters and the other  [ maybe?] fishing related groups involved with veterans recovering from whatever.

seems it's all controlled from seattle V.A. ..she picked up a phone and called seattle , and eventually the person at the other end told me that i needed to talk to julia adams, the acting head of recovery therapy there at lakewood... huhn?? talk about bureaucracy!!

anyways, i finally got a phone number for someone local. have called it twice and left messages asking them to call back, but still no answer.

there's more, which i'll send via email to pole and bsteves and Z, they can decide if they want to share it, but short version is that we as a group need to be registered with VA for this.

looks like it's time to talk directly to PHW and cut out the locals and the gov't. until we absolutely have to.

There are other less formal ways to do this as well.  For instance ... the forums here ... http://www.takeasoldierfishing.com/

Following some posts there took me to this ... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KevinsDriftboat/

I've see KevinsDriftboat on ifish before.  I also remember ifish doing similar events every now and then.

-Allen

ok, i've gotten a reply from PHWW...

somehow i think he mistook me for allan, but the important thing is we have an answer;

Allen – thanks for the e-mail. We’re just getting started in the northwest and our coordinator, Chuck Tye has his hands full with all the requests he’s been getting. I’ve CC’d him so he can get in touch with you. We have established a relationship with the Tidewater Kayak Angling Association out of Virginia Beach, VA. Once a year we send our troops down to participate in a tournament they run. We also do a little kayaking on the Shenandoah . Might be nice to do out your way after we get things moving.

 

Best regards,

Ed Nicholson

President, PHWFF

this is the email i sent them;

From: Richard E. XXXXXXX [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 7:39 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: we would like to help

 

Hello,
I'm Richard XXXXXX, aka wanderingrichard of northwestkayakanglers.com
 
We are a group of kayak fishermen in the Pacific Northwest, currently numbering over 220, who are trying to contact your local representatives in order to extend our assistance with disabled and recovering veterans. So far we have had little success.
 
As a group, we are pretty diverse. we have many disabled [ myself included ] to just plain veterans in our group, and many professional arts and small business people also, so we represent all walks of life.  Our groups' reach encompasses the area starting in southern Oregon and goes all the way up the Pacific coast to Alaska, including British Columbia, and all the way over to Idaho.
 
Fishing from a kayak, mostly sit on tops, opens up a whole new set of parameters for an angler. Fly fishing from one just adds to the excitement. We have fishermen who go after everything from panfish and bass to salmon with a kayak and fly rod. Many of us also fish the saltwater opportunities available to us in the urban fisheries such as the Portland Ore. and Seattle WA. areas. Think of it this way... go to work downtown, look out the window and see the river, get off work, drive to the river, change clothes, launch your kayak from a local access, go catch fish!!
 
Representing our group, I have been attempting to reach your local represntatives through the Lakewood Washington V.A and Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis Washington for over 3 weeks with no response, so it has been frustrating in trying to reach out to your organization. So, after talking to the senior membership, we decided that it was best to contact you directly.
 
Please, we really do wish to join you in helping our veterans.
 
Our best contact information is;
 
Allen XXXXXXXX
aka polopole
[email protected]
 
(he's the founder of the group)
 
or you can contact me here at the address listed in the header.
 
Thank you in advance,
R. E. "Rich" XXXXX
aka wanderingrichard
Member, northwestkayakanglers.com