On Saturday, 45 teams of 20 people will compete to pull an 85-ton FedEx plane across 20 feet of tarmac in the fastest time. The money they raise will go to support veterans through Travis Mills’ nonprofit.

It was a routine patrol during his third tour in Afghanistan, and he was blasted by a bomb. Mills lost portions of both arms and legs, making him one of five surviving quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He spent 19 months at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, relearning everything: “how to have a prosthetic hand, how to feed myself and dress myself, how to walk again.” And Mills went on fun adaptive excursions like downhill mountain biking and mono-skiing, his wife Kelsey and their then 6-month-old daughter Chloe by his side the whole time.

“I realized ‘Oh my gosh, my life’s not over,’” Mills said. “I can still keep pushing forward.”

After he left the hospital, Mills and his wife decided that they wanted to do something to show people that life is possible after injury. “I wanted to get them off the sidelines,” Mills said.

They started the Travis Mills Foundation in 2013, “thinking we were going to do care packages.” But in 2017, they opened an all-inclusive, all-expenses-paid retreat experience in the Belgrade Lakes Region for veterans who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service. A year and a half ago, the group purchased a piece of property across the street, and they’re getting ready to build an expansion.

Now, the nonprofit provides 46 weeks of programming serving 1,200 people per year from all over the country. It has several offerings, including a family program and the Warrior Progressive Alternative Training for Helping Heroes program for first responders and veterans working through post-traumatic stress.

“We want to show these people with physical limitations that life is something to be lived and enjoyed no matter what their limitations are,” Mills said.

Activities at the retreat rotate seasonally. In the fall, there’s leaf peeping and trips to local sugar shacks. In the winter, there’s dog sledding and ice fishing. And in the summer, there’s kayaking and a high ropes course. There are also virtual offerings, like a book club, to “reach people where they’re at,” according to Heather Labbe, the executive director.

“It’s pretty impressive when people with missing limbs, like both legs, go on hand cycle rides with their family for the first time, just to try new things,” Mills said. And he said that participants come as strangers and leave as friends, and in one case, two families continued to travel together.

Each week of programming costs $30,000 to $50,000 because the nonprofit covers all of the costs, including travel and food. To raise money, it puts on an annual plane pull fundraiser at the Portland Jetport. It’s happening this Saturday.

Last year, it raised $270,000, enough to cover more than five weeks of programming. “And you get to watch people grab onto this big ol’ rope and pull a massive plane,” Mills said.

Awards will be presented for fastest pull, top fundraiser and most patriotic. The slowest pull wins the Drag Award. The event will also feature food trucks, a bounce house and cornhole to make it exciting for attendees of all ages.

Mills will be on the runway, cheering on the pulling.