Aquanuts, Dreams for Kids help more than 150 at Lance Park
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Since Dreams for Kids partnered with the Twin Lakes Aquanuts in an Adaptive Ski program 16 years ago, the annual event has opened windows of opportunity for children with special needs, and continued to grow entering its 17th year last week.
About 150 children and their families attended the event held on Lake Mary Thursday.
Dreams for Kids, an organization founded in 1989 by Tom Tuohy, looks to brighten the lives of children struggling with a variety of disabilities.
“In the first year, we had one event and one activity,” said Tuohy. “This year, we had fishing, kayaking and canoeing.”
The program, he added, helps not only children with special needs, but entire families.
“It has evolved over the years and it has brought more young people into it,” Tuohy said. “It is giving them more opportunities.”
According to Dave Lawless, Director of Extreme Recess, about 55 of the 150 were children with special needs.
Family involvement has made dreams possible for the children.
“It gives those something they have never experienced before and with their families,” Tuohy said. “This changes their lives, we have been told by families that this moment has been magical.”
Benefits extend beyond children and their families, but also to members of the Aquanuts squad, including incoming Wilmot Union High School senior Jenna Meyer.
Meyer, an Aquanut for about 12 years, states the expressions on the faces of special needs children and their families are rewarding enough.
“Seeing the people and the smile on their faces – they don’t get to experience something like this,” Meyer said. “Seeing how happy they are feels really good.”
The adaptive ski event extends beyond Lake Mary, however, fostering long-term friendships and academic improvement in the classroom.
“For those that have come back, their grades have gone up, and made friends for the first time,” Tuohy said.