Lake Gladewater fishing event brings joy to kids with special needs

GLADEWATER, Texas — Saturday was a picture-perfect day for this year’s CAST for Kids Foundation event at Lake Gladewater. Dozens of volunteers spent the day helping families and kids with special needs have a day full of fishing. 

“I’m not saying I’m not 10 years old today,” Jim Behnken, the CAST for Kids program director said, “(but) every Saturday and Sunday, I’m a 10-year-old again running around. I love it and I love these kids, and I love giving an opportunity to have fun and enjoy themselves and and show the families that that, hey, their community loves them.”

CAST stands for Catch a Special Thrill. Formed in 1991, the non-profit provides an opportunity for those with special needs to get outdoors and away from electronics. 

“We’ve got children with Cerebral Palsy, we got children with Down Syndrome, we got children with Autism,” Behnken said. “Our goal is to take them out, show them that their community loves them, show them that their community values them.”

Dozens of these events are held nationwide and each event has a group of people who arrange the funding to help pay for all the rods, reels, or anything the kids may need. 

Patti Walker is one of the local organizer’s for Saturday’s event. She got involved last year after volunteering at a CAST For Kids event on Lake Tyler. 

“Just seeing those kids’ excitement and the families too. They’re so appreciative of it, because some of them just aren’t able to provide this for them,” Walker said. 

Parents, like Kay Aven, say moments events like these help their kids get outside the house. 

“You’re in the nature and you’re learning things. You’re learning a little bit about conservation, a little about different, different fish species,” Aven said. 

Aven has a child with special needs who graduated from high school.  

“It’s a common misconception that there’s anything different about them. They just they enjoy their life just like the rest of us, and they like fishing and going on boat rides,” Aven said. 

Success stories and smiles is what keeps Behnken coming back to these events. 

“This is not a job, Behnken said. “I go around to these events, and I look at all these wonderful volunteers that have given their Saturday morning to serve these children.”

Next year’s event will be on May 30.