Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Kids undergoing treatment for cancer in the Puerto Vallarta area had an unforgettable day of fun and adventure while swimming and cavorting with dolphins this past Saturday, June 18.

Joint sponsorship by American Legion Post 14 and Vallarta Adventures made the event possible. Twenty-one kids and 10 parents participated.

World-class Dolphin Adventure, a fun and educational interactive program, provides face-to-face encounters in which families can touch, feed, play and swim with dolphins.

It gave these kids much-needed smiles and laughter of excitement, quite a relief from the hardships of their condition and the rigors of their cancer treatment. Their treatment requires a five hour bus trip to Guadalajara for chemotherapy, followed by the return bus trip, accompanied by the exhaustion that goes with chemo treatment.

The Puerto Vallarta Cancer Screening and Treatment Center, Canica Centro de Apoyo a Niños Con Cancer A.C., operates five days a week, with monthly meetings of children and parents.

It took a substantial coordinated effort to make this important event happen. Fourteen volunteers from Dolphin Adventure came forward. Six additional volunteers were required to man the three trucks that transported the kids to the dolphin center in Nuevo Vallarta.

Special thanks go out to Gareth Price, the Commercial Director of Vallarta Adventures, Patricia Meneses, the coordinator of dolphins' environmental affairs, and Dennis Rike, the Commander of American Legion Post 14.

For more information contact Dennis Rike of the American Legion Post 14 PV at dennis2rike(at)hotmail.com