Opportune Acres sponsors first Outdoor Expo

Families from Merrick, Hamilton and surrounding counties were able to enjoy a fun-filled day at Bader Park near Chapman on Saturday, May 4 as the organization Opportune Acres presented its first Outdoor Expo.
Kari Valentine, Opportune Acres president and executive director, created the non-profit organization in 2021 when she and her husband, Dr. Shade Whalen, were struggling to do everything they wanted to help individuals with disabilities.
“We originally thought, let’s see if we could make a satellite clinic for my husband’s business, which is the Children & Adolescent Clinic in Grand Island and Hastings,” Valentine explained. “In discussions, I kept saying, ‘I don’t want to just serve rich people’s kids. I just don’t want to help the people who could afford it.’ Then somebody said, ‘Well, have you ever thought about a nonprofit?’”
Since then, Opportune Acres has been providing various events to support inclusiveness and bring opportunities for people “to participate in every aspect of life to the best of their abilities and desires.”
“It came about because we just want to be able to first offer programs and offer services to rural communities just in our area in the Midwest and we really wanted to bring what is out there to Middle America,” she stated.
Valentine said motivation for the program came from hearing families who were struggling to get insurance to pay for therapy for their children with physical disabilities.
“I decided to write a program proposal or a grant to the Merrick Foundation and write for the LEAN (Learn, Excite, Accept, Nurture) program,” Valentine said. “It was for kids specifically with physical disabilities. They had to have a physical disability and even though not all the kids have insurance hardship... in the program, the goal is to specifically target those who were struggling getting insurance to pay for therapy—kind of a supplemental therapy program.”
In creating a recreational event for children with disabilities, organizers had to answer questions, such as how all participants would fish, hike and kayak and how to make the event accessible for visitors who use wheelchairs.
“We starting looking around for different equipment and different people who kind of help with outdoor activities and talked to Bader (Park) and Bader was interested in working with us,” Valentine said. 
One of the organizations involved with providing equipment for the event included Heartland DSC of Council Bluffs, Iowa, which donated track chairs that can move through terrain where regular wheelchairs can’t go.  
One of the highlights for Valentine was seeing the joy of two wheelchair-bound children who got to test the track chairs. 
“They got to ride around in the track chairs together,” she said. “They were racing each other and were just smiling.”
Other recreational gear was provided by Be Adaptive from Columbia City, Ind., which manufactures fishing equipment designed for people who are physically challenged.
“You don’t have to push and hold a switch, but you would just hit a switch and it would reel in,” Valentine said.
Another popular machine was a fishing boat created by Inclusive Inc. that uses GPS.
“If you had no hand function whatsoever, you could still fish,” she explained.
Archery equipment was also available for those who have limited use of their hands, according to Valentine.
“With archery, it’s a puff and blow switch or a bite switch,” she explained. “Someone who maybe doesn’t have use of their hands can still shoot a bow and arrow by blowing in a tube or biting onto it.”
Before the official 11 a.m. start time of the event, Opportune Acres invited those with physical disabilities to be the first to try out the equipment at their own pace.
“They were there from 9 to 11 a.m.,” she said. “We worked with them on therapeutic activities first and then the public came at 11 a.m. so those kids got their own specific time to do stuff prior to the public coming.”
Games were also set up that challenged able-bodied participants to navigate obstacles or solve puzzles without using certain senses.
“We were trying to simulate different disabilities,” Valentine stated. “We had one game center where you had to be blind, one game where you had to put on splints and try to be able to do certain things. We’re trying to simulate for an able-bodied person what life is like for someone who is not able-bodied.”
Although there was limited advanced notice of the event, Opportune Acres was able to sell over 50 tickets to families from all over central Nebraska and 27 volunteers assisted with the event.
The overall reaction from the families attending the event was quite positive.
“That was one of the highlights of my day honestly to see them laughing and giggling and there were so many smiles,” Valentine commented.
One reaction she recalled was from a grandmother who had brought her granddaughter from Aurora to spend the day at Outdoor Expo.
“They were there the whole entire day, which I never anticipated,” Valentine stated. “Her grandparents said she’s a triplet and her other two sisters are able-bodied. Her grandma just came up to us and said, ‘You know what’s so neat about this, is it’s like something for her to do and the families come to her to do something for her.”
Valentine expressed her gratitude to Andrea Krueger and her husband, Dan, who helped organize the event. She also thanked the Merrick Foundation, Nebraska Game and Parks, Be Adaptive, Inclusive Inc., Apex Marine, Special Scoops in Hastings, Edgerton Explorit Center, Heartland DSC, CC Photography, Newberry Farms Photography as well as the volunteers and staff at Bader Park for making the event possible.
“Bader Park was amazing,” she stated.
“I think if we continue to do it, I think we’ll be fine and honestly we would continue doing it even if we had the same number of people,” Valentine commented. 
Other upcoming events that Opportune Acres will be sponsoring include Special Swimmers which will take place at both The Leadership Center in Aurora and the YMCA in Grand Island from June to early July, Bubble Run with the Kids & Dreams Foundation that will take place at Central City on Saturday, July 20 and the second annual Golf Tournament at Poco Creek in Aurora, Saturday, Aug. 10.