Introduction:  

Water. Essential for life. Known throughout history for its healing powers. A home with a view of a lake, river, or ocean, is considered highly desirable real estate. Who doesn’t love to see a bird swoop over a body of water, a fish leap or a turtle basking on a log?

 

This is why, when Dr. Tom Kazo and I wrote up WRT’s Corporate Charter, we included these words:

Design therapeutic programs whereby persons with disabilities are able to gain enhancement of being through more intimate contact with flora and fauna in their natural homes.

Those words, “Enhancement of being,” are Wildlife Research Team’s foundation.

Tom himself was a severe diabetic and canoeing helped him burn off excess blood glucose and live far beyond the dire predictions of his doctors. It’s fair to say, canoeing saved his life. Even when he had yet another diabetic ulcer on his foot, he’d carefully wrap it to be waterproof and get into his canoe. He’d been a true “waterman” since childhood, growing up on Biscayne Bay, canoeing, sailing, rowing, racing powerboats.

After barely surviving two years of confinement in nursing homes, he knew getting on the water again would help to heal him. The simplest way was canoeing. For the rest of his life, Tom Kazo did his best to never miss a sunrise or a sunset. The ones viewed from his canoe were by far the best. I can personally vouch for this, as his favorite paddling partner!

And because he was a giving and empathic person, he made it our mission to share these experiences with others. Especially those who were also confined to nursing homes.

Tom also had a unique way with words, and called our new program, “You Point We Paddle.” Just because a person wasn’t able to paddle didn’t mean they had to miss out on the blessings of canoeing.

For a person shut into a room within a care facility or even their own home, to experience the cool breeze in their face as they glide smoothly over the water while securely nested within a broad-beamed canoe, powered by a proficient paddler, is magnificent medicine. As an “engine” myself, I can personally vouch for the healing power of this experience upon the human beings sharing my canoe. One of the most profound lessons I’ve learned is that canoeing is a metaphor for Life. Sometimes we paddle against the tide, sometimes we go with the flow. Sometimes we are uncomfortable. Yet if we just keep paddling, around the bend we may see a manatee or some other wondrous element of Nature, our reward for our perseverance.

Paddling a canoe has made me stronger in every possible way, and, just as Tom worked hard to do, I want to share these revelations with others.

Ready for some good news?

Wildlife Research Team is bringing back You Point We Paddle! We are in the very early planning stages of setting up two official events. Details will unfold over the months ahead, but here are the basics:

WHEN: One day in the autumn of 2024 and one day in the early months of 2025.

WHERE: The South Fork Canoe Launch in Davie, Florida, our home base.

WHO: Twenty-four passengers total, twelve per day. These people will be eligible because of challenges to their health and mobility and thus are seldom able to experience Nature.

WHO: At the heart of this program are experienced paddlers who are strong enough to serve as the “engine” of a canoe. There will be four canoes launched at a time, in three shifts per day. Each paddler must be capable of handling all three shifts on that day, with only a short break in between. Ideally, we will have a surplus of “engines” and each paddler will need to go out just the once. That’s something we’ll only know on The Big Day! We will also have auxiliary canoes on the water as well, ideally with medical personnel and/or caregivers.

HOW LONG? As the comfort of our passengers is the MOST important factor, each excursion will be less than an hour in total. We create well-padded “nests” on the floor of the canoe behind the empty seat in the bow for maximum stability and safety. There will be room for a cooler of snacks and drinks and if the passenger requires an oxygen tank, there’s room for that as well. It’s the quality of time spent on the water that matters more than the quantity.

It’s important to note that once we’ve set up the program as specified above, it’s not a big step to expand it beyond two dedicated days and two dozen passengers. We will be establishing a database of passengers and paddlers as well as setting up standard operating procedures for successful outcomes.

If you’re looking for the words “cost” or “price” or “fee” please stop looking, as You Point We Paddle is a FREE service to our precious passengers. There is no greater reward than their smiling faces.

Environmental education through habitat conservation

WRT will continue to uphold another mandate from our Charter: Perform cleanup and maintenance of waterways.

From our earliest days, Tom and I made sure to keep a garbage bag in our canoe and would pick up trash during our excursions. Happily, all the folks who have participated in WRT’s various activities have felt the same way! We’ve also learned that canoe cleanups are great for teaching new volunteers how to handle their vessel and work with another paddler, whether a well-known partner or brand-new friend. Hands-on environmental education occurs naturally during our cleanups of the habitat.

We need your support to make these good things happen!

Now we turn it over to you! Help us get You Point We Paddle back in business! Help us to continue making the waters of Florida safer for wildlife! Help us to keep providing quality volunteer opportunities!

Here is the best email address to contact me, Donna Kazo, with questions or information: 

paddle4research@ yahoo.com. I’ll get back to you right away.

You can help with a simple tax-deductible donation, easy to make via PayPal on our “Ways to Help” page. But if you’d rather send a check, email me and I’ll send you the best snail mail address.

Rest assured; your donation of any amount will be used directly to run our programs as above. Compared to the “big guys” who may employ lobbyists or fundraising agents, our budget is small and our expenses minimal. One reason is that all of us are volunteers. Look around our website to learn more about where your donations go. But like everyone, we do have bills to pay, and You Point We Paddle will incur some new costs.

Own a business? Be a Sponsor! Sponsors will receive abundant publicity thanking them for their support of this important cause. Support can be cash or in-kind donations. Your company information and/or logo will proudly be displayed on our website and on our promotional materials.

Essential! We need strong, and preferably experienced paddlers as “engines” of our canoes. There will be rehearsals and training sessions. Details to follow.

And our prized passengers themselves? Help us to locate them. Once word gets out, it is highly likely that many more than two dozen people will be vying for their place in our canoes. We will NOT make this first-come, first-served. As the day draws closer, our dozen passengers will be selected by a random drawing, to make it as fair as possible. A waiting list will be maintained in case someone from the twelve can’t make it at the last minute.

The caregivers of our passengers are very special to us and we look forward to working with them to provide the best experience possible for all concerned. We know each of our precious passengers will have a unique situation and needs.

We are looking for persons with medical training to volunteer on those two days and for a training day.

We need volunteers for numerous other tasks, both on the official YPWP days and for background and supporting tasks. This could be anything from canoe painting and maintenance to finding sponsors to assistance with the event and much in-between.

If you are a student, WRT provides Community Service Hours to students both in high school and college. Since we became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2001, many outstanding young people who earned their Hours with us have gone on to make us very proud!

Wildlife Research Team is a small organization but it’s safe to say that our impact since our founding in 1993 has been exponential.

Let’s do this!

Donna M. Kazo,

President and co-founder,

Wildlife Research Team, Inc.