Some community members spent Saturday morning at the pool, swimming 100 laps for our nation's vets.
Leading this effort are siblings Michael and Kara Ahern from Plainville who presented a $30,000 check for the Travis Mills Foundation.
"This is the biggest event we've had so far. It got big enough that we had Travis come down," said Michael.
Travis Mills is one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive, but it doesn't stop him from living a full life.
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"Never live life on the sidelines. Always be active with your family and your community, and never shy away from something new," said Mills.
His retreat in Maine gives injured post-911 vets and their families a chance to relax and find strength through adaptive sports. The funds Michael and his family raised will give eight families a free week-stay in August.
"It started with just a donation that sponsored one family, now they're sponsoring a whole week of families, which is no easy task to raise that much funds, but they've done it consistently," said Mills.
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At just eight years old, Michael knew he wanted to help veterans. Now 12 years old, he and his sister have raised more than $60,000 for the Travis Mills Foundation through their Miles for Mills 5K, swim-a-thons, and Scoops for Troops.
Saturday was the Ahern family's third annual swim-a-thon event, where they were joined by friends, family and community members.
"I'm a swimmer so I want to do my part in it and that's how we came up with the swim-a-thon," said Kara.
This month, Michael will be going to Charleston, South Carolina, to accept the 2022 Citizens Award for Youth Service by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
