U.P. organization enables courage for disabled veterans

MARQUETTE — An organization focused on providing individuals and veterans with physical disabilities, an opportunity to explore the wilderness and harness their natural courage, is well into their second year.

Nate Denofre has dedicated his life to the outdoors.

“We charter from Charter Fishing on Lake Superior. We take people canoeing, kayaking, and backpacking,” said Courage Incorporated CEO, Nate Denofre.

Not only does he love being in the outdoors, but also assisting physically challenged individuals and veterans in their pursuit to enjoy mother nature.

“We’ve had people with Multiple Sclerosis that came up last year and just walking a couple hundred feet is a big day for them, and we had them walking miles. When they claim they forget about having M.S. for a couple days, we know we’re on the right track,” said Denofre.

Nate was born with his own set of challenges, Amniotic Band Syndrome, which left him without legs from the knees down.

“I lost my legs at birth,” said Denofre.

Although Nate has lived with this syndrome for his whole life, it does not hold him back.

“We prove that the only disability is in the mind and it is, I prove it constantly. Not to be tooting my own horn, but it’s possible and you just have to keep moving, that’s what we offer,” said Denofre.

Surfing has been a recent passion that Nate has picked up and just one of the many opportunities available with Courage Incorporated.

“I’m hooked on surfing, I love it. It’s awesome and extremely physically challenging, I think it’s almost tougher than going 160 days in the woods,” said Denofre.

Everything is completely free of charge for participants and like most non-profit organizations, they rely heavily on donations.

“We’re 100% non-profit, volunteer based. We rely on volunteers and donations, no one pays and we all get together and help with whatever we can,” said Denofre.

Nate is flexible with finding new activities to assist individuals in achieving their dreams.

“We do custom trips, if someone has something that society deems as a disability, we’ll figure something out, a trip or fishing tour, anything we can do to help,” said Denofre.

If you are interested in learning more about the services offered by Courage Incorporated, one of their biggest fundraisers of the year is coming up at the Junction Jam 2017 event at the Junction 95 Tavern from August 25th through the 27th.

You can also contact the organization through their Facbeook page and website by clicking here.