Military Appreciation Day, Charleston Chapter

[Cutiger]

Ladies and Gents, I have a great volunteer opportunity for you if you're in the vicinity of SC.

If you live around Morehead City or Southport, NC then you probably already know about MAD. If not, then here's a quick summary. MAD is a non-profit organization made up of entirely volunteers. We organize one day events in which boaters volunteer to take active duty, guard, and reservists fishing for the day. Then end that day with a cookout. Each chapter hosts one event a year. Our motto is One. Simple. THANKS!

I got involved with MAD about 4 years ago when I was living in NC. Last year myself and another MAD volunteer who lives in Charleston started up a Charleston Chapter. We held our first Charleston event last November and had 34 boats take 82 troops fishing. At the end of the day we ended up feeding about 120 volunteers and troops. This year we have also arranged to have a shuttle to Morris Island for surf fishing "captains" to take troops out there. We've also arranged for troops to fish for free on the piers with a paid pier "captain". So this year you don't even have to be a boat owner to take them fishing. SCDNR provides us with a fishing license waiver for captains to carry onboard that exempts the troops needing a fishing license the day of the event. You do not need to be a licensed captain, this is for everyday fishermen to have a way to say Thanks to our service members.

MAD Charleston 2016 is going to take place on November 12th. The event and cookout is held at RiversEdge Marina, but boat captains are welcome to leave from any area ramp, marina, house dock, etc. We pair the volunteer with the number of troops they request, and you arrange directly with your troops where and when to meet the morning of Nov. 12th. If you're not leaving from RiversEdge, you'll check in/out with us via text, call, or VHF. Last yer RiversEdge supplied slips to our out of town MAD boats for free. We haven't confirmed that yet for this year, but I bet they'll be doing that again. Our goal this year is to have 50 volunteer boats. We opened registration on Wednesday last week (9/14) and already have 11 boats & surf captains registered.

A lot of our volunteers get concerned about how (not) good of a fishermen they are. It doesn't matter how bad you are at catching fish, honestly. Last year the only thing caught on my boat was an anchor. But my guys had a blast (trash)talking about college football, riding around and seeing the sights from the water, and going in to Shem Creek for lunch.

Here's out website if you want to browse around and look at pictures. Or if you want to register to take some true American Heroes fishing.
http://militaryappreciationday.org/w...charleston-sc/

If you have questions, fire away, or give me a call (843-697-04 one one). I am the Charleston Chapter VP so I can answer any questions you may have.

If enough CSC people want to volunteer, maybe there could be a Sunday CSC gathering in Charleston...just a thought...