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"Be the Best that You Can Be!"
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Customized Sailing Opportunities for Everyone!
Adaptive - Healing - Recreational - Therapeutic - Educational - Instructional - Competitive
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Greetings!
It is with great pleasure that I’m sharing this final report from the Summer Camp 2017. It was a great experience which we will build on throughout the year and do again next year. It would not have happened without our talented volunteers and the financial support from private donations and grant funding. Special thanks to our Board of Directors members who helped make this happen. Please see pictures and read the story below.
While you are at it, please visit our
website and check out it's new look, feel and programming!
Yours Truly,
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Executive Director
Team Paradise Sailing
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Summer in Paradise - A Camp to Remember
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All hands were on deck when Team Paradise hosted its first ever sailing camp for intellectually and developmentally disabled youth from the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Disability Services. The story played out at our home base at the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove. In all, our staff of 15 sailors served 106 kids and 21 counselors during seven fun-filled days on beautiful Biscayne Bay.
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Preparations were extensive. To begin with, our program administrator became a volunteer for the Special Olympics SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) program in Matheson Hammock Park in order learn more about working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Together, we visited a couple of the parks and met with therapists, counselors and some of the actual campers to expand our knowledge base.
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Our pre-camp meeting for skippers and volunteers was held on June 30th, one week prior to the first event. 15 volunteers were in attendance, all bringing up good points and great ideas. Several of the volunteers had extensive prior experience working with this type of disabled population. Our designated skippers were highly qualified, champion sailors. Even our Wounded Warrior sailors came to help load and unload the campers, as well as to help with sailing the boats.
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The boats we used were two Sonar, 2 RS Venture, and a 35’ Shannon Shoal Sailor named “Ocean Mist”, owned by a generous Coral Reef Yacht Club member. The “Ocean Mist” acted has our mother ship. It draws only 30” and is fully equipped. It also includes the added safety feature of a stern platform. It was super comforting to have the Ocean Mist available for campers who might not like the idea of sailing on the smaller boats.
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August 9th was our final camp of the season and the sailing on this day was the exclamation point of the series. Lessons had been learned and it was awesome to witness everyone coming together for a safe and fun-filled couple of hours on Biscayne Bay.
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Had it been a race day, we would have won every race! Campers and counselors were all very pleased and comments like “the best day all summer” and “I want to do this again” were heard repeatedly. Summer Camp sure ended on a very positive note.
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So, thank you Fritz, Edward, Michael, Ed and Suze Fry, Rene, Eric, Donoray, Humberto, David, Susan, Tara, Bill, Nancy and Rafael for making it all happen! You are the BEST!
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Team Paradise Sailing, Inc., has complied with the registration requirements of Chapter 496, Florida Statutes, the Solicitation of Contributions Act. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. Registration #CH50128
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