A party, a day trip with friends, a night on the town ­— it’s what makes any social calendar. But when you’re disabled, your calendar tends to fill up with other things, if it fills up at all.

Fish-Abled strives to change that.

In 2012, The Fish-Abled Foundation was established as a nonprofit group that organizes fishing outings and other social events for the disabled. We know that many of the disabled have nothing marked on their calendars except doctor’s appointments and that they maybe basically stuck in their homes. So, it is our goal to give them the chance to get out and experience something that may not otherwise been easy for them to do.

We host monthly outings such as a bowling night, Rockford IceHogs games, Rockford Aviators games as well as concerts and a “River Run”. The River Run is a event which includes a day of fishing, boating, games and food.

Fish-Abled has been helped along its mission with grant funding from The Blazer Foundation and The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois. It’s also been supported by the Rockford Park District, RMTD, Mosaic Church, SM & SF Club, Rockford Symphony Orchestra and numerous other organizations and volunteers.

Rockford has a lot of bad news and bad hype, but we see the complete opposite through this organization. We see people who are willing to help one another and help push this mission forward.