Foundation To Present $61,000 To Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch

PINELLAS PARK, FL -- The Armed Forces Families Foundation, a charity organization helping military families in the Southeast U.S., is scheduled to attend the 2018 Alive Day 5k and grand opening of Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch, a new wounded veterans-focused outdoor recreation area set to open on Saturday at Lurie Park in Pinellas Park.

At about 9 a.m., the foundation will present a ceremonial check totaling $61,000 for the construction of a new handicap accessible pavilion at the new park.

The large pavilion will serve as a shaded gathering point for the park and will allow veterans and their families to enjoy picnics, outdoor entertainment and community events, while connecting with one another.

The pavilion project funded by AFFF is expected to be completed later this year.

Additionally, team members from AFFF will be on-site throughout the day’s festivities and will host an informational booth about the charity and its upcoming community projects.

“We are happy to be able to provide support for Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch and to be a part of their Alive Day kick-off event,” said foundation spokeswoman Niki Austin. “WWAR is an amazing resource for our veterans, their families and the entire Pinellas community.”

The Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch is a city park open to the general public but will focus on serving as a resource center for wounded veterans by offering activities, equipment and facilities that are fully handicap and wheelchair accessible.

In 2015, in partnership with the city of Pinellas Park which offered 10 acres at Lurie Park for the project, Mike DeLancey, a Marine paralyzed by a sniper shot in Iraq in 2006, formed the nonprofit Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch. Now, three years later, the ranch will open.

The ranch and park are fully accessible to wheelchairs and offers cycling trails, outdoor fitness stations, a multi-purpose court for volleyball, basketball, rugby, baseball, bocce, tennis, sailing, kayaking, a fully stocked fishing pond, an accessible workout station with ADA-compliant fitness equipment, dog park, a children’s playground and a memorial garden to honor fallen soldiers of Pinellas County, all accessible to wounded warriors. It will also be home to the Head Quarters, a central veteran resource for all adaptive sports and recreational facilities.

The park will be an important community resource due to its close proximity to two VA hospitals, including the CW Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which is one of the nation’s premiere treatment and rehabilitation centers for injured veterans, and the James A. Hayley VA Hospital, which is one of two top specialist spinal cord injury hospitals for veterans. Additionally, Pinellas County is home to many veterans and their families with a veteran population of 88,360 in the county as of 2016, many of whom suffer from an injury sustained either in conflict or after service.

Video via WWAR

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