Organizers of the Fishing Has No Boundaries event is looking for help from the community.
They are in need of sponsors, volunteers and people with boats to assist with this year’s event.
“It’s for the learning disabled and handicapped,” said Richard McAllister, board member.
The event is planned for Sept. 26 and 27 at El Dorado Lake at Bluestem Point and is in its ninth year.
It is open to youth and adults who have a handicap, including some who are part of Flinthills Services.
McAllister said the goal is to “get them out and let them know they can do things. Just because they are handicapped or learning disabled, they can still do a lot of stuff that everybody can do. It’s more to help them.”
To help with the event, they need sponsors, donations and people with boats, especially pontoon boats that they can put wheelchairs in, although they could also use bass boats and flat bottom boats. Gas for the boats is provided courtesy of Frontier Refinery and Conoco.
“People can come out and be a volunteer to help,” McAllister added. “We need some to go out with the people on the boat to assist; to help serve food.
“We would like to get more people involved.”
In addition to fishing, they also provide breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast and lunch Sunday to the participants.
“We’re always needing help in food and drink,” he said.
There also are prizes for first, second and third biggest fish.
“We’d like to give everybody a prize, but the funding is not there that we need to do that,” he said, adding that is something they hope to be able to do eventually.
For participants between 16 and 64, if they don’t have a fishing license, they get a group deal so they do not have to get individual licenses.
“It’s for them to have fun,” McAllister said.
For more information on making a donation or volunteering or being a participant, contact McAllister at 321-5678 or the RCIL office. Donations, which are tax deductible, can be sent to RCIL at 615 1/2 N. Main, El Dorado, KS 67042.
They encourage people to get donations in early, but will take them up until the event.
