In business ROI (return on investment) is everything. It is the bottom-line of making money. Everyone knows that it takes money to make money, but real profitability only comes when there is a high return on the investment, whether the investment is in operations, marketing, systems or employees. Consider the return when the investment is made in someone’s life.

In July 2014, a group of nine blind and disabled Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans embarked on a life altering experience to kayak the rapids of the Yellowstone River in Montana. Led by Lonnie Bedwell, a blind veteran himself and the first blind person to ever kayak the 226-mile stretch of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, these brave individuals made an investment in their future; in their dreams.

“Investing in a business or other financial opportunity can generate great economic and lifestyle benefits, said Richard Seppala, the “ROI Guy” and President of Total Census Solutions, “but when the investment is made in someone’s life and in such a way that that life is forever improved, then that investment is priceless.”

Lonnie Bedwell, former Navy Petty Officer First Class, knows about such an investment. For twelve years, Lonnie refused VA hospital therapy and remained locked in the darkness of his mind, until one day his five year old daughter, Taylor, said to him, “Daddy, why don’t you cut the grass?” To which Lonnie replied, “Because I can’t”. Without hesitation, Taylor said, “I’ll help”. “I’ll help” has been Lonnie’s mantra ever since.

Nearly ten percent of all veterans are disabled from the service they so bravely render. Many individuals like Lonnie and Richard Seppala, are making an investment that they hope will yield enormous returns for these disabled vets.

“I hope that I can show these vets, and any disabled person, that they should never give up on their dreams or give up on life”, says Lonnie.

With the help of Team River Runner™, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA, and filmmaker Jason Ross, founder of TSM Studios, Richard and Lonnie are producing a documentary film, “Vets on the River” of the Yellowstone River experience.

“Watching these guys progress and learn, and be scared and overcome their fears, was amazing,” said Ross. “They changed our lives.”

“I know that I need assistance and help at times, and that’s the way my life has changed, that’s the way it’s going to be,” said Eric Marts, an Army veteran who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2007, “but it doesn’t mean I can’t push that envelope and get the same exhilaration and rush out of life that everyone else does.”

This is the kind of ROI that Richard Seppala, Lonnie and others hope will be the result of endeavors such as the OuttaSight kayaking trips in Montana. To learn more about Vets on the River and follow the film’s progress go to VetsOnTheRiver