On Saturday, March 16^th, the Reel Blessed Chapter of Fishing’s Future held our first event of 2024. Tania and I picked up one of our volunteers and headed to Port Saint Lucie Botanical Gardens, where we arrived around 7:30 am.

 Several other volunteers arrived shortly after we arrived to help set up. We completed setting up at about 8:30 am. Families arrived early, but registration started promptly at 8:30 am.

We had 12 families with 32 participants and eight volunteers when the event started. The ratio of participants and volunteers was great, and we provided a lot of one-on-one help to each family.

We opened in prayer as usual and then broke the families into multiple groups to start the educational portion of our event. We gathered everyone once we had completed teaching our participants how to handle fish, cast, and tie an improved cinch knot. We lined the families up and provided them with rods/reels and bait. Once everyone had their equipment and bait, we all went fishing.

We fished from about 9:45 am to 10:50 am and caught lots of fish. I believe almost everyone at the event caught at least one fish. We had Bluegill, Cichlids, Blue Tilapia, and Largemouth Bass caught. It was great walking around the pond, helping the families, and seeing the kids’ smiles.

Once we wrapped up fishing, we provided a bagged lunch for everyone. Thank you, Synergy Magnet School, for providing sandwiches, snacks, chocolate milk, and juice. Publix provided water for our event. This partnership with Synergy and Publix helps Reel Blessed’s mission, as we feel it’s important for families to have a meal together. Unfortunately, it’s not as common as it used to be. We even had one of the children volunteer to pray over the food. I love seeing the kids give thanks to God!

Once lunch was over, we had a small competition for the kids to see who could collect the most trash. The three children with the most trash would get to pick a gift. The top two children picked hats, and the third one picked a stuffed animal we had.  

Next, we lined the kids up and had them go up to their parents/guardians, thanked them for bringing them to the event, and told them they loved them loud enough for everyone to hear. I enjoy this portion of the events, and even though it’s tough for some of the children, I think it’s a great experience for the children. I know the parents love it!

At about noon, we said goodbye to our participants, and the volunteers helped break down our event. I cannot say thank you enough to the volunteers we had. Your help makes Reel Blessed’s mission a reality, as Tania and I could not do it alone.

We could not have done this without our sponsors and donors. A few of our sponsors are Salt Strong, A&S Jigs, Forest to Seas Adventures, and Publix on St James Drive, which has provided water for all our events. We also have family and friends who have donated to support holding these family fish camps at no cost to the participants. And I cannot forget our partnership with Port Saint Lucie Botanical Gardens and Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network (FYCCN).

If you are looking to help support our mission of “Strengthening the family bonds through the great sport of fishing,” you can click the donate link below (put Reel Blessed in the comments), or if you would like to give your time and volunteer, reach out to me via the contact button.

Our Next event is April 20^th at the Port Saint Lucie Botanical Gardens. I will send out a link to register for the event in about a week, so please keep your eyes open. This event is completely Free, all we ask is that at least one parent/guardian attend the event with the child; however, we would love to see your whole family attend. We also ask you to get a ticket for each family member attending. This way, we can ensure we have enough equipment and supplies for everyone.