Last year, Brian LaFauci and Kevin Nerney took their children on an outdoor adventure from one end of Rhode Island to the other.

The two fathers, LaFauci, a former captain in the RI National Guard and current National Guard Bureau contractor, and Nerney, a developmental disability attorney, found the experience so fulfilling they opened the trek to more people this year.

Now, 30 participants will make their way across the state this weekend, July 24 to 26, starting Friday morning at the Tri-State Marker in Burrillville and end Sunday afternoon at Third Beach in Newport.

The idea of a trek was born nearly three years ago when LaFauci and Nerney were looking for ways to get their children “out and active” away from the television and computer. The trek includes biking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking and swimming.

Nerney said it’s always beneficial to have kids be in nature and more aware of their surroundings, “and it is just nice to be with your family and bond in a non-traditional setting.”

LaFauci explained that when all external and/or electronic stimuli are removed for three full days, the “natural result” creates conversation.

“You talk about things you wouldn’t otherwise once it’s just you and nature,” LaFauci said. “You make the best memories and connections when you’re laughing and sharing stories.”

After the success of last year, the two men created SafaRI, a not-for-profit, which would host these annual treks and raise funds for charity with the help of Ashlee Barton. This year’s trek will benefit the Sergeant Brian St. Germain Foundation as well as Friends of the Blackstone Educational Center. SafaRI will donate more than $1,000 between the two charities.

This year, the two believed the trek is underpriced at $100 for an adult for all three days, with meals, rentals and camp locations covered in the price. In coming years the price may increase because SafaRI would like to make more “substantial donations” in the future.

“In the end, the goal is to bond with family, but also to raise money to give back to the community,” LaFauci said.

It took LaFauci and Nerney nearly five months of logistical planning to prepare for this upcoming weekend.

On Friday, the group will begin hiking at 8:30 at the Tri-State Marker to make their way towards the Douglas State Forest. Then once they reach Blackstone Valley Gorge they will start biking, joining the Woonsocket Bike Path. They will camp Friday night near the Blackstone Educational Center.

Saturday the group will head down the Blackstone River in a canoe and then bike the East Bay Bike path. Then the adults will have a half-mile swim from Bristol to Portsmouth under the Mt. Hope Bridge and finish the day biking to Middletown to stay overnight. On Sunday everyone will start kayaking from Sandy Point Beach in Portsmouth along the coast to get to Third Beach in Newport.

Participants range in age and participation, but the youngest active participant is 5 and the oldest is over 60. The majority of this year’s participants are friends and acquaintances so the organization can see what it would take to expand the trek and incorporate more people while keeping the process logistically smooth, moving equipment and people throughout the state.

Similarly, the trek will have a lot of extraction and inclusion points so the children in the program are only involved in what is manageable and what they are capable of.

“We need to keep kids interested and engaged so it’s fun for them, too,” LaFauci said.

Still, Nerney said that he has seen an outpouring of support, excitement and interest in this project.

“It’s nice to see this seed of an idea grow into something,” he said.

LaFauci hopes to see the organization really grow in the coming years and would even like to see it become a resource for military personnel returning from deployment to bind and reintegrate with their families.

Nerney and LaFauci want to have four routes in Rhode Island that they can rotate year from year and also begin hosting smaller events throughout the year for each of the seasons. They said they would keep the trek in Rhode Island.

“This sort of project is feasible in Rhode Island. You can’t cross Montana in three days,” LaFauci said.

Nerney said, “Rhode Island has so much to offer right outside your front door and this is an opportunity to enjoy what’s in nature already. Our goal is to open people’s eyes to that.”

They said as often as you may drive through or around the state, when you are in a car you just “pass things by.”

When you’re immersed in nature, you find “hidden treasures around every corner.”

“You get to experience the state in a whole new way, and when you’re exploring you get a different perspective on the state,” LaFauci said.

For more information visit the Safari Rhode Island page on Facebook.

TREKKING RHODE ISLAND: This weekend 30 parents and their children will be making their way across the state as a part of SafaRI’s fundraising event. For three days participants will bike, hike, kayak, canoe and swim around the state to bond with one another. The pictures are of LaFauci and his children from last year’s trek. (Submitted photos)