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Happy Fall! We hope that everyone had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to the upcoming hunting seasons. Not only is this our busiest time with multiple events for Heroes, it is also a very busy season for our fundraising. For all federal and state employees, this is the season to turn in your pledge to support your favorite charity through your combined campaigns. Our Federal CFC number for those that need it is #94512.Unfortunately our state number varies from state to state as well as from year to year! Please be sure to look WWIAF up when you are ready to make your state campaign pledge to be sure you have the correct organization number.
We are also getting ready to launch a new campaign called"Give5HealLives." 
This campaign is set up to approach each and everyone within the outdoor community who supports the path of healing for Wounded Warriors, but do not already have a reliable online platform. The success of this endeavor depends on the willingness of people who understand the good work we do and proactively share the news with others so that the word is spread all across the country. A special donation website has been set up to track and receive these donations, and we hope you will join in to make this successful. www.give5heallives.org by spreading the word on social media.
 Thanks again to all who take a moment in their day to check out a photo on our Facebook page, share a post with a friend, read a tweet or re-tweet a post, or just forward this newsletter. Your assistance in passing the word about our mission out to others is invaluable! **Special note to Outlook users - please accept our apologies. Outlook does not allow for easy viewing of this format, so many of our photos and articles come across a bit over top of each other. If you have the ability to open this in another web format (gmail, yahoo, etc) or Facebook, please do so!
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Supporting Events for this Quarter:
Finger Lakes Ducks and Bucks Motorcycle Ride, 11 July: VFW Post 6200 hosted a a 100 mile ride through the scenic Finger Lakes to support the upcoming Ducks and Bucks event in November. It was a beautiful day with a great group of riders. Thanks to all who came out to support!
Kuneytown Golf Scramble, 9 Aug: Bonabista State Park Golf Course was the site of the WWIA Golf Scramble to support the Finger Lakes Ducks and Bucks Nov event.
Combat Veterans Motorcycle Assoc. 22 Aug, Concrete, WA. Wounded Warrior Pedro Colunga and WWIA Camp Stillwater Hosts John and Dawn Koenig accepted the check from the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 11-5 along with the Women's Auxiliary on behalf of the Wounded Warriors In Action Foundation after completing the All Patriots ride to support Camp Stillwater.
DrawDown Raffle, 23 Aug:Reading, OH
The Morrissey Family put on another great DrawDown Raffle!
Great job and thank you so much for your commitment.
Ohio Golf Outing, 29 Aug:Lockbourne, OH The rain delay worked in our favor as the rescheduled event had more players come to the FoxFire Golf Course than originally scheduled. Thanks to Richard Wright for organizing everything and to all the players for being a part of the fun and the fundraising. Kudos to all who donated the prizes - WWIA appreciates your support!
Fund Day, Boomers, 29 Aug: Pewaulkee, WI
Brenda Diesing has done it again - pulling off yet another successful fundraiser in Wisconsin! Through all of her efforts and the donations by such a wonderfully supportive community, she was able to raise tons of valuable contributions.
WWIA Golf Scramble, 5 Sept: Lake Nebegamon, WI.Brad Bourassa and crew pulled together a great Labor Day Golf Scramble at Bottens Green Acres. Through a raffle, auction and terrific golf, he was able to raise over $5,800 for the Bayfield Cast and Blast. Thank You!
LJT Inc. Charity Golf Scramble, 11 Sept: Berlin, MD. Hero Ashton was on hand to participate in the LJT & Associates Golf Scramble. Their donation to WWIA will sponsor him on an event this fall. Thanks for including WWIA in your charity event and we look forward to next year.
Annual W WIA Vermont Chapter Fundraiser Dinner, 26 Sept, Bennington, VT:
Bennington, VT. WWIA sets a new fund raising standard for a single event -- $31,000 for our Heroes! Thanks to Mike and Debi Davenport and all the wonderful WWIA supporters in the great state of Vermont!
Whitetails Unlimited Donation:WWIA sends a special thanks to Whitetails Unlimited, and chapter president Jim Wiltinger, for their $3,147 donation to the Bayfield Cast and Blast. The Heroes are looking forward to the event in October!
Bowsite.com promotion: Charlie Rehor sent out a plea to the Bowsite.com community and received donations to cover the cost of Hero Jake attending our first ever Elk Bow Hunt in Montrose, Colorado. Thanks to all the donors who made that trip possible!
Harvest Land Parade!
Harvest Land employees and Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation and family teamed up in September
to participate in the Preble County Pork Festival parade - it was a great day! We were proud to be partnered with Harvest Land and display our WWIA propane truck to such a large crowd. Thanks to all who came out despite the rain. Remember, they're donating $.03/gallon propane sold from these delivery trucks to WWIA.
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Lake Erie Walleye
31 Jul - 3 Aug
Ashtabula, OH: Larry Fielder, Steve Fielder Joe Kallay along with associate Mark Broda were on hand to meet Warriors Matthew, Chuck, Justin, Michael, Jeremy and Raymond for a great weekend of camaraderie and fishing on Lake Erie. The weekend started with a little "pre-fishing" for those that showed up early, and  flowed right into an amazing steak dinner provided by the American Legion Post 103. After spending the night in RV's  parked at Kister's Marina, the boys were paired up with boat captains and out on the water to try to pull in fish. The fish were not as bountiful this year as they have been in previous years due to some crazy weather this summer, but after two days of fishing each Warrior was still able to go home with at least 10 pounds of fish fillets for good eating at home! They were all also a part of a community chicken  dinner on Sunday night that allows for supporters in the community to join in with the warriors to shoot the breeze and tell tall tales. Special thanks to the well oiled machine that is Team Erie for running a top notch event year after year!
"To say that I had a great time would be an understatement. This trip went far beyond any expectations that I had. The fishing was great, the food was amazing but the best part was the group of people that I met. After 10 years of receiving my Purple Heart I find myself still amazed but he sharing or love and support. The WWIA organization is something that I can say I am proud to be a part of. Thanks you so much for everything you have done for me this weekend and for the support of our wounded veterans from all the wars fought!" (J. R. USArmy)
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Central Montana Fishing
13 - 16 Aug
They also saw just about every big game animal Montana has to offer: elk, mule deer, and bear. Between the fishing, hiking, and awesome cooking, the Warriors were treated to a world class event!
"I hope one day I have the opportunity to return, so I can share some memories with a few more of my brothers. I cannot thank the ranch owners enough for going out of their way to host Wounded Warriors in Action!" (T.S. USMC)
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Eagle River Muskie Chal-Lunge
11 - 13 Sept
Heroes Matthew, Doug, Daniel, Clifford, Anthony fished for mighty muskies during a catch and release tournament in Eagle River, WI. WWIA Heroes were also honored at a dinner commemorating the anniversary of September 11, 2001. Saturday, they were out on the water trying to snag the biggest fish around with an awards dinner that evening. The community jumped in to support this event by sponsoring five different hero teams with five of the top muskie pros in the region. WWIA host Scott received donations to cover the cost of the rooms and meals, found tee-shirt sponsors, and partnered with VFW Post 8400 in Land O' Lakes, WI and St Croix Rods to provide fishing rods for all the heroes who attended. Thanks to a supportive community for our assistance with this event. We look forward to another successful event  next year.
"From the buffet Friday night, lures delivered from Joe Boucher and a gift of a St Croix Rod, I was blown away bi the level of dedication and thanks of the sponsors. Eagle Waters Resort was beautiful in a true North Wisconsin theme and some of the nicest places I have ever stayed. Getting fishing advice from Boucher and my amazing guide led me to catch the two biggest fish I have ever brought in -- 37 and 41 inches! I can't thank Scott enough for putting this event together - top notch!" (M.T. USArmy)
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Couples Retreat / Upland Bird Hunt
25 - 28 Sept
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 The 6th Annual NY Upland Bird/Couples Retreat was again a great success due to the hard work of hosts Mary Lou Reisdorf plus Shawn and Christie Ingram. Three couples came from as far away as Oklahoma to attend this event in upstate New York. While the guys were out with Associate Milt tracking down pheasants, the ladies were treated to a special winery tour and luncheon one day and a hotel spa and brunch the next day. The first evening they all visited Bear Hill Farm for a tour, cocktails and a steak dinner. The following day they were honored at a game dinner at the Whispering Pines Hideaway, a major supporter of the event. The last night they were all treated to dinner at the Corner Inn.
 As always, when an event is in its 6th year, it just keeps getting better and better. Thank you for supporting these Warriors and their wives!
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As mentioned above - WWAIF is kicking off our 2015 "Give 5 Heal Lives" Campaign on 1 October.
Please click the logo above and donate to this campaign so that we can reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st. Any amount will assist our Purple Heart Warriors and please share this information with a friend, who will then share it with another friend, you can feel confident that you are helping those that have sacrificed for us. Use Facebook, Twitter, and all social media.
As a great big thank you for donating as little as $5, we are happy to provide a free membership to the
WWIA Membership Rewards Program! This membership rewards program offers discounted outdoor sporting adventures all over the world.
Think of it as AAA for outdoor adventures!
Go to the Give 5 Heal Lives website atwww.give5heallives.org and click on the donate now button and you will be on your way to receiving your new WWIAF Membership Card. 
NOTE: These adventures are not connected to the events we host for our Purple Heart Heroes; these are special discounted opportunities for our supporters. WWIA receives the membership fee and pays a small per person fee to the parent company, Sportsman's Reward, to allow our supporters this opportunity. Please feel free to share this link with all your friends who appreciate a good deal on recreational opportunities!
http://www.wwiaf.org/give5
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eBay Giving Works/PayPal Giving Fund
Because we want to make sure you can support our mission in any way that fits into your lifestyle, we wanted to make you aware of a program that supports WWIA through buying and selling on eBay. The PayPal Giving Fund is the philanthropic arm of eBay Giving Works that allows you to purchase items designated by a special ribbon icon where a portion of each sale will be donated to WWIA. Additionally, users can sell items on eBay and set it up for WWIA to receive a portion of your specific sale. Please go to this link for more information! 
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Founder's Corner
Fall is a busy time for WWIA! With so many different events in progress all across the country, the staff is constantly working to take care of the details to make each event special. However, without the dedicated support we receive from the great host groups at all the local events, we would not be able to provide this service for these Heroes - so thank you!
Another reason fall is such a busy time is because it is CFC and state employee PLEDGE time again! For all federal and state employees, we ask that include WWIA as one of your pledge recipients again this year. Workplace campaigns are a great way for the Foundation to know in advance what kind of funding will be coming in month after month. For those that have the opportunity to participate, we thank you for your support!
Many other non-government companies also allow for workplace giving, and many offer matching funds. Please keep us in mind if you are a part of that workforce and be sure to ask us if you need more information on how to make it happen!
Finally, the fall also brings us to end-of-the-year giving campaigns. As you see if the previous article, we are kicking off our "Give 5 Heal Lives" campaign in October. For a $5 donation, you will help support the Foundation as well as receive a "Thank You Membership" to our Sportsman's Rewards program. Your membership card will be emailed to you right after you make the donation. If you feel like you already support WWIA as much as you are able we only ask that you share this campaign information with others. You can do that by forwarding an email that you will receive shortly, or by sharing the link on Facebook.
Help us spread the word about Give 5 Heal Lives!
As always, we cannot run this Foundation and serve the Heroes we do without your monetary and volunteer support. We are greatly honored to have all of you as part of our WWIA family and appreciate your willingness to dedicate your time, talents, and treasure to us. Our pledge to you: to be good stewards of your donation and serve these Heroes the best way we can.
If you have an idea for a fundraiser or way to generate money in support of our mission, please contact us at info@wwiaf.org The more income we generate, the more Purple Heart Heroes we can serve. Looking forward to hearing your ideas and thank you again for your continued support!
Respectfully and sincerely yours,
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Want to Help?
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Donations can be made as a one-time donation, or if it is more budget friendly for you, it is easy to set up a monthly recurring donation so that you can support WWIA all year long; just go to the website and click on DONATE in the upper left corner!
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 The Healing Heroes In Action Tour with Bassmaster Elite Series pro Edwin Evers and performance automotive and marine battery manufacturer OPTIMA® Batteries came to a close after the last two events were held in August. Evers partnered with combat-wounded Purple Heart veteran Brian in New York and Matt  in Maryland. They competed in a head-to-head fishing contest against a two-man challenger team selected by an online auction held onEvers' Facebook page. The auction amount became a donation direct to the foundation.
 We are so excited to be a included in this partnership and are thrilled our Heroes have the chance to fish with such a talented and generous person. We would like to send a huge shout out to the following: Edwin, OPTIMA Batteries, Bass ProShops, Lowrance, Wiley X, Wild River, and Zoom - all who donated great stuff to the Heroes...and we can't forget - the challenger teams at each location who won the bid to compete against our team.
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2015 African Safari
July 25 - Aug 01
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Camp Stillwater Black Bear Hunt
2 - 8 Aug
Concrete, WA: John and Dawn Koenig hosted yet another event at Camp Stillwater. Each morning after a family style breakfast, Brandon, Stephen, Wyatt and John were sent out with guides Brian and John in groups of two to pre-scouted locations. All six days of hunting were 'spot-n-stalk' tactics that encompassed some very long hikes to some high mountain berry meadows and some not so long hikes to various food sources to watch for bear signs. After hunting each morning, they broke for a big dinner before heading out again in the evenings.
Hero John just happened to be walking into a previously found high traffic area when he spotted his bear standing in an old logging road -- black bear down and harvested!
"Fidalgo Taxidermy" in Anacortes, WA donated a bear rug and a local butcher will turn the meat into pepperoni sticks to be mailed to all four attending Heroes. All had a wonderful time and made wonderful friends. Thanks again to the Koenig's for providing such amazing hospitality.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This week has been nothing but peace and adventure. Camp Stillwater is a true place of healing. My life until now has been full of stress and turmoil, but John and Dawn made that feeling go away. When I return home the wonderful experience here will forever be in my heart and soul. Your accommodations here at Camp Stillwater were amazing. The "no pressure" atmosphere made me feel at home. Once more thank you all for showing me a better path I did not think existed." (J.G. USArmy)
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Phillips Chain Of Lakes Fishing Tournament
21 - 22 Aug
Jason Johns and Doug Alderton participated in this annual event held in Phillips. While they did not bring in any giant fish, they did manage to have a wonderful experience with the amazing people of the northwoods of Wisconsin who donate so much to WWIA and Wounded Warriors. We've received a check for $2,000! Many, many thanks!
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Gator Hunt
21 - 24 Aug
 Melbourne, FL:
The Florida Gator hunt continues to be a verypopular WWIA event and this year was no different. Randy, Paul, Matthew, Steven, Michael, and Todd along with Associate Pat and volunteer Bill,
had a great time, and made friends that will likely last forever. WWIA executed the event following thorough and redundant safety procedures, with all Warriors harvesting trophy alligators. The bottom line is that we honored each Warrior's service to our country and tremendous sacrifice through an effective, safe, and very enjoyable experience they will never forget!  The American Legion Riders Florida Post 81 and the Fraternal Order of Orioles, Nest 272 covered all lodging expenses, dinner meal on 08/21, gift baskets for the Warriors, and provided the motorcade escort. Hollywood Limousine LLC provided the in and around ground transportation. Off the Traxx Bar and Grill provided the lunch meal on 08/21. We again teamed up with Operation Outdoor Freedom, which not only  helped us obtain the hunting licenses, but also covered all work related to animal processing, trophy handling, taxidermy costs, and take home meat packages for the Warriors. This is a great event with an amazing cast of supporters. Thanks for everything you all do for these warriors and we are all ready for next year! "For a long time after I was injured, I was not able to interact with people as I did before, and am still a little apprehensive sometimes. Having the opportunity to participate in this trip really allowed me to open up and associate with others who share the same difficulties as me. Thank you WWIA for making this a great trip and for all that you do to help veterans."
(R.W. USMC)
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Southwest Colorado Elk Hunt
12 - 16 Sept
We had an amazing time on our inaugural Southwest Colorado Elk Hunt. There was constant elk action with six legal bulls within bow range, but they just couldn't put a tag on a set of antlers. It was a stellar event with even better people. Thank you to all the organizations that made this event possible: Bowsite.com, The Rocking R Ranch, Sitka as well as all the amazing supporting cast.
I just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to go on this hunt. It was a great time, very relaxing and I can't thank all the sponsors enough for making this happen.
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Stillwater Biennial Salmon SLAM
25 - 28 Sept
 Camp Stillwater, WA. As reported by the host, "It was anawesome event and an absolute blast was had by all. My stomach is still sore from laughing so hard all weekend!" Averaging about four to five pounds, Pink Salmon (Humpies) are the smallest of the five salmon species, but the most abundant. It is not uncommon to catch over 100 fish a day of these extremely aggressive hard fighting salmon, and the Heroes had a great time bring them in! From the great food provided by Dawn and the the 20 plus years of experience in guiding anglers on these waters by John, this biennial event was a great success.
"I truly want to thank you for your time and dedication to make sure we had a good time, were well fed and you showed us people truly do still care. I did not realize how bad I needed this weekend. I am finally relaxed. Thank you so very much." (P.M. USMC)
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FUTURE EVENTS:
TN BOWHUNT Whitetail:
October 09 - October 12, 2015
RACING - Lacrosse Speedway:
October 09 - October 11, 2015
Western PA Guided Archery Deer Hunt:
October 15 - October 18, 2015
Bayfield Cast & Blast, 2015:
October 15 - October 19, 2015
2015 Mercer Muskie Madness Challenge:
October 16 - October 17, 2015
PA Cast & Blast:
October 16 - October 19, 2015
Camp Hackett:
October 22 - October 26, 2015
Southwest Oregon Bear Hunt:
October 22 - October 26, 2015
South Dakota Pheasant Hunt:
November 06 - November 09, 2015
Praire Du Chien Duck Hunt:
November 08 - November 11, 2015
Finger Lakes Ducks & Bucks:
November 11 - November 15, 2015
3rd Annual Murphy Family & Friends Gulf Coast Cast & Blast:
November 13 - November 17, 2015
6th Annual WWIA MO-KAN Ducks N' Bucks:
November 19 - November 23, 2015
OK Grand Ranch Whitetail Hunt:
November 20 - November 23, 2015
2015 Newfield, NY Whitetail Deer Hunt:
December 04 - December 07, 2015
TN Whitetail Rifle Hunt:
December 04 - December 07, 2015
Great Creek Hunt Club:
December 10 - December 13, 2015
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the Beautiful and Scenic Smith River outside of White Sulfur Springs, Montana. Warriors John, Bryan, Tyson and Jonathon were able to participate in some of the best Fly Fishing they have ever seen catching both brown and rainbow trout.
