Irene Godinez is on a mission.

The Manteca resident wants to enable veterans who lost limbs to have the ability to again enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting, or simply traversing a beach.

In order to do that, she needs to raise $15,000 to purchase an all-terrain wheelchair.

Godinez is president of the Manteca-based non-profit A Bridge to Change. The organization is staging its annual United We Stand golf tournament on Friday, Oct. 22, at 10:30 a.m. at the Manteca Gold Course.

The entry fee is $125. It includes 18 holes of golf with a cart, range balls, lunch from Texas Roadhouse, ceremony appetizers, on the course snacks, tee prizes, closet to the pin and putting contests, awards, raffle, and a complimentary souvenir.

Entry forms are available by emailing irenemre@gmail.com  or calling Godinez at (209) 808-2550.

If all goes well, this will be the fifth all terrain wheelchair the group has purchased.

Unlike previous Tracker Chairs they have acquired that were presented to specific veterans to keep, the all-terrain wheelchair this year will be used as a loaner chair. It will be made available to veterans from throughout Northern California for treks into the outdoors.

“This way we can help more veterans,” Godinez told them Manteca Rotary during the service club’s meeting Thursday at Mt. Mike’s Pizza.

It’s not that previous Tracker Chairs presented to veterans are gathering dust for several weeks at a time between their use on outdoor excursions. They have gone to war veterans— several who were partially paralyzed — to allow them to resume active lifestyle such as caring for a small farm.

The chair loaner program will help numerous disabled veterans that once enjoyed fishing or hunting to resume those activities.

The Tracker Chair is a motorized wheelchair that runs in tracks similar to those found on tanks allowing the user to navigate everything from steep inclines and sandy beaches and even terrain to hunt and fish.

The all-terrain wheelchair bought this year — as well as ones obtained in the future — will be loaned free of charge to a veteran who has sustained permanent injuries, losing multiple limbs, and who sacrificed their life and was committed to protecting our country. 

The chair allows a veteran who was a double, triple or quadruple amputee reclaim their outdoor activity independence by being able to access almost any path, independently, without assistance.