Event Photos:
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March 28, 2009
Orlando Event
Click Here to View Orlando Photos.
April 18, 2009
San Diego Event
Click Here to View
San Diego Photos.
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Challenge Air for Kids and Friends is a national children's non-profit organization whose mission
is to offer motivational, inspirational and life-changing experiences
to children
and youth with special needs through aviation.Parents have told us time and again that we are building self-esteem and confidence in their children.Ad Space:If you are interested in advertising through Challenge Air's e-newsletter that is sent to over 5,000 friends, contact
Byron Laszlo for rates. Donations can be
mailed to:Challenge Air8008 Cedar Springs Rd., LB-24Dallas, TX 75235
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Dear Friends of Challenge Air:
Spring is a
busy time for the Challenge Air crew. We are currently planning events in McKinney, TX; Nashville, TN: both on
the immediate horizon, as well as working with local volunteer planning
committees in Seattle, Portland,
Kansas City, Amarillo,
and Oklahoma City.
The 2009
event season has been filled with many wonderful experiences for children with special needs across the country. We recently held
our 11th annual event in San
Diego just a couple weeks ago. Ninety-seven amazing kids took to
the skies with 18 volunteer pilots (many from the Los Angeles area) and about 100 ground crew volunteers. This was undeniably the best San Diego event yet! Thank you to San Diego Jet Center for their hospitality!
We are happy to announce that members of
our Advisory Board have been building a pilot recognition program. As you know,
all of the pilots who participate in our program are volunteers. They donate their time, planes and resources to help Challenge Air fulfill its mission. At the events, we are now
publicly recognizing those pilots  who have flown 25 missions or more with a cool, embroidered patch. It is usually difficult to rally
all the pilots on the ground at one time....you just cannot get some of them out
of their planes. But in San Diego, we managed to
gather a few for a presentation of the 25 Mission patch as pictured here.
In this newsletter, you will read some new and powerful testimonies and
learn about some of our new supporters.
Thank you
for your belief in the Challenge Air program. Without your support, the freedom of flight would simply not be
possible for the children and families of Challenge Air.
Warmest
Regards,
Byron Laszlo
Executive
Director
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Have You Made Your Annual Fund Contribution to Challenge Air Yet?
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Challenge Air Needs Your Support.........
Just about
every sector of the economy is hurting today, including the non-profit sector and especially grass-roots organizations like  Challenge Air. Many corporations and foundations are cutting back their giving. Non-profits are having to rely heavily on their individual donors to get them through these tough times. This stands true for Challenge Air.
In the
past, if you have made a monetary donation, would you please considering giving that much or more
today? No amount is too large or too small. You can be a part of helping the children Challenge
Air serves break through barriers and literally soar to new heights!
Your donation measures up: The Challenge Air e-newsletter goes out to over 5,000 friends. If everyone gave $10, that would equal $50,000!
Additionally, there are many other ways you can contribute to Challenge Air. Some of these include: participate on a
local volunteer event planning committee, help introduce Challenge Air to new
corporate entities, volunteer in any of our three office locations: Dallas,
L.A. and Ft. Lauderdale, or help with the gala and silent auction, just to name
a few. Please feel free to contact Byron Laszlo anytime if you would like to learn more
about ways you can help.
Donate Now to the Annual Fund!
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Announcing Challenge Air's Newest Advisory Board Members...
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Challenge Air is pleased to announce two of the newest members to join the
Challenge Air Advisory Board: Ken Langley and Steve Hadley.
 Ken and his wife,
Mary, have been supporting Challenge Air in many ways - by volunteering at the
events, and raising money through JuicePlus, to name a few.
Steve Hadley is the Regional Representative for NBAA (National Business Aviation Association).
Steve has supported the Challenge Air program for a number of years.
Many thanks to Ken and Steve for partnering with
Challenge Air on our advisory committee. We look forward to working with you
closer in this new capacity.
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East Coast News....
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On Saturday, March
28 Challenge Air East Coast held its' 3rd Annual "Fly-Day" Event in
Orlando, FL.
I
would like to give a special thanks to Matt Tutton of Air Inc.
for being such a gracious host and SheltAir for their continued support, as well
as all the committee members who made this event fun and safe for everyone: Jim
Barrett, Bryan Stevens, Sandra and Michael Schmidt, Tammy and Conan Secconni,
David Moore, Malissa Cook, Amy Pineyro, Southwest Airlines Employees and the entire Pineyro Law Firm. Also, I would like to give a huge thank you
to all the volunteer pilots, who utilized their talents to inspire and motivate
all the special needs children/youth/young adults that day. "THANK YOU", you
have shown that all obstacles can be overcome and that all perceived limitations
can be without boundaries.
Please take
the time to visit the following link created by one of our wonderful volunteers
David Ackerman, who was so impacted by what he saw, he created this video.
This is
just one of many testimonials sent to us after the event:
I needed to express my
sincere gratitude to your company and all your volunteers. This was our first
time ever participating and what a time it was. I don't know if any words can
describe what I felt when I walked into that hanger Sat afternoon. The
expression on my son's face was the old saying "a picture is worth a
thousand words." It was definitely a time my family and I will never
forget. I must thank you again; may you continue the great work that you do. I
wish you happiness and great things for all eternity. It is great to know
wonderful spirits exist in this world of chaos and trying times. God bless you
from my family to yours. Devin's happiness truly shined that day in the sky. I
look forward to seeing you guys again.
Our love and prayers,
Christina R. Butler
"Love and let Live"
As always, I would like to extend my
gratitude and a huge "THANK YOU" to Banyan Air Service at the Fort Lauderdale
Executive Airport for their continued generosity and support throughout all
these years.
Best Regards
Theron Wright, East Coast Director
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