Rolling Up Countless Memories at Camp Wheel Away

Toasting marshmellows over a crackling fire... Making new friends while hiking in the Georgia hills... Crickets chirping you to sleep in the middle of the night... falling asleep under the bright autumn moonlight... watermelon dripping down my chin.... the laughter of new friends and old as we sit around the campfire as another day comes to an end...

These are but a few of the memories that await the campers as another year of Camp Wheel A Way quickly approaches. Camp Wheel A Way is only two weeks away and we are so excited to be able to bring endless memories to disabled campers from around Georgia.  The Kyle Pease Foundation is partnering with Camp Twin Lakes and Camp Will Away in Winder, Georgia to bring this unique and innovative camping experience to campers from ages 6-30. 

Camp will be held from October 10-12. If that isn't exciting enough, Kpeasey will be in the house for the weekend. I am really looking forward to hanging out, getting to meet new friends and participating in all types of fun camping activities. 

The camp staff is made up of volunteers and qualified nurses who will run the activities for people with Cerebral palsy. Activities include archery, arts and crafts, fishing, rock climbing, boating and much more. 

All cabins have heat and air conditioning and are ADA accessible. 

I urge anyone with a disability to join us as there is still availability to attend our one of a kind camping event. The attendance fees are sponsored by the Kyle Pease Foundation so short of being afraid of crickets there is no excuse not to attend.  

Email us at walkingwithkpeasey@gmail.com to get a camping application. 

The Gouteix Family Expresses Extreme Gratitude to the Bert Show and KPF

 

Julia and Pascal Gouteix competed in their first paired triathlon this weekend, and it was such an amazing experience. The journey this has taken Pascal on has been such a pleasure and an honor to witness up close.

As some of you may know, we first became connected to The Kyle Pease Foundation through The Bert Show as part of a Father’s Day surprise for Pascal. In conjunction with Fragile Kids Foundation, they provided him with a raft to pull Julia along on the swim, a bike trailer and extra supportive seating to keep Julia comfortable during the race. Pascal has always been active, and had completed several triathlons prior to Julia’s arrival and this became a great opportunity for them to find something fun to do together.

The equipment provided was the catalyst for Pascal to make this dream a reality, but the connections we've made as a result have been priceless. It's so hard to feel connected when you're a parent of a child with a disability, especially when connection often means being stuck in some dreary support group that can leave you feeling hopeless. I hate to generalize, but this seems especially true for fathers.

Since the show aired, Pascal has received so much support from a technical standpoint from Brent Pease at foundation, but also from an emotional standpoint as well. We've been put in touch with amazing families that are living parallel journeys to ours, and words really can't describe how good it feels to have those connections. As parents of a three-year-old with cerebral palsy, meeting athletes like Kyle, Marin Smith, Justin Knight and Kevin Enners give us so much hope for the future. Their parents and siblings aren’t too shabby either.

It's difficult to say that you won't let your family be defined in any way, shape, or form by the disability of your child, because it truly shakes your world in ways that you can't imagine. But I do believe that you can choose to be defined by your response to it. Our hope is that people can see that having a child with a disability is not a tragedy, it's not a burden. As corny and contrived as it may sound-it's a blessing in so many unexpected ways. We are so lucky to have found this amazing, supportive group of athletic families and we look forward to many, many more races in the near future!