Dan Mayhugh gets his boat ready for sailing Monday at Moraine State Park. Mayhugh will be one of the sailors volunteering June 26 and 27 for the annual Sailing Connection event, which offers $10 sailboat rides on Lake Arthur. Proceeds will benefit Community Care Connections, which provides programs to those with disabilities. A relay race Aug. 7 at Alameda Park also will benefit CCC.

Those seeking to aid Community Care Connections will have the option this season of offering their support by land or by water.

The annual Sailing Connection event, which offers $10 sailboat rides on Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park, is set for June 26 and 27. Refreshments will be available.

A Walk, Run, Roll and Hop relay race will follow Aug. 7 at the Masonic Shelter in Alameda Park. Relay teams of four are still being sought for that event, which will require participants to walk while wrapped like a mummy, run around cones using wheeled walkers, hop on one foot using crutches and roll wheelchairs around cones.

"Each leg of the race features a different challenge," said public relations director Cindy Harbison, adding fundraising is but one goal of the event.

"It's (also designed) to raise public awareness on what it's like to live with a disability," she said.

A relay entry fee is set at $40, but teams are encouraged to solicit sponsorships, Harbison said. T-shirts, refreshments and gift cards for the winning team will be part of the event.

Although this year will mark the first for the relay competition, the Sailing Connection has been around for numerous years, said Paul Egbert of the Wind & Water Boatworks in Penn Township.

Egbert coordinates the event in conjunction with Crescent Bay Marine and members of the Lake Arthur Sailing Club, who donate their time and boats.

"We generally have 17 to 20 20- to 27-foot boats," Egbert said, explaining passengers usually go out in groups of two or three. The rides average between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on how many passengers are standing by on the dock, he added.

Previous years have led to proceeds of about $1,500 — all donated to the nonprofit agency in Connoquenessing Township, which provides services to people with mentally or physically disabling conditions.

"We've had a lot of funding cuts — most agencies have," Harbison said, explaining some of CCC's programs are funded with government grants, others through private donations.

CCC's programs include summer day camps for disabled children, infant and toddler therapy, group housing for adults, services to help disabled adults remain in their homes, and activities and recreational programs.

Dan Mayhugh, a sailor who has volunteered since the program began, said he is unconcerned with specifically how proceeds are used, knowing they go to a good cause. Instead, the West Mifflin man said he and many others in the club enjoy introducing people of all ages to the sport of sailing.

"I go up Friday around noon and stay until Sunday. I never leave the park," Mayhugh said.

"I've met a lot of really nice people."

Egbert said the event will occur regardless of wind.

"If there is no wind, they can get a motorboat ride on a sailboat."

If heavy storms occur, Egbert said the sailors will wait for conditions to improve.

<B>WHAT: </B>Sailing Connection event offering $10 sailboat rides on Lake Arthur<B>WHEN: </B>11 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 26 and 27<B>WHERE: </B>Crescent Bay Marine, South Shore, Moraine State Park<B>INFO: </B>Call Wind & Water Boatworks at 800-289-8097 or Community Care Connections at 724-283-3198, Ext. 250.<B>WHAT: </B>Walk, Run, Roll and Hop relay race<B>WHEN: </B>9 a.m. Aug. 7<B>WHERE: </B>Masonic Shelter, Alameda Park, Butler Township<B>INFO: </B>Four-person team registration due by July 15. Call Community Care Connections, 724-283-3198, Ext. 250.