VISIT OUR SPONSORS:
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We are proud to recognize
QSC & PHCC as one of our major supporters.
Challenge Air wishes to
thank everyone at the Hodes Co. in Kansas
City, MO for your continued
support. Hodes Co., is the leading sponsor of the September 12, 2009
Challenge Air event.
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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. Donations can be
mailed to:Challenge Air8008 Cedar Springs Rd., LB-24Dallas, TX 75235
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BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW FOR THIS CUSTOM-BUILT CHOPPER!
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YOU
COULD WIN this one-of-a-kind custom-built chopper appropriately named The
Aviator: motorcycle meets airplane. Last fall, Cutter Aviation awarded this
beautiful motorcycle to Challenge Air as an opportunity to raise much
needed funds.
To celebrate Cutter's 80th anniversary, they had
this unique motorcycle built.
May 2009, we officially launched
The Aviator raffle. Only 2000 tickets maximum will be sold. Each ticket is only
$50.
Click here to buy your raflle tickets online and to learn
more about The Aviator. Don't miss your chance to win!
Many thanks to Ken Langley, Raul Ruiz and Richard Morgan for your great teamwork
on this raffle.
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Dear Friends of Challenge Air:
July and August have been busy months for the Challenge Air team. On July 18th, 129 children with special needs from the Seattle area were inspired at our third annual Everett "Fly Day." On August 8, the Challenge Air team traveled to Aurora, Oregon for its third annual Challenge Air event, sponsored in part by the Safeway Foundation.  Both the Everett and Aurora events had a record turn-out of pilots, thanks to the recruiting efforts of Rosemary Pelissier of Angel Flight West and a record number of volunteers thanks to April Wilson, Joyce Nugent and the Boeing Company. Additionally, on August 29, the first-ever Challenge Air event was held in Amarillo, Texas. In all, over 350 children with special needs were inspired through the freedom of flight!
(Click here to view picts from the Everett event. Aurora picts will be uploaded next week.)
Click here to view the newspaper article from the Aurora event.
We are currently preparing for two events in September: Kansas City, MO and Oklahoma City, OK.
If you are in these areas, we hope you will be able to participate. To
pre-register, please visit www.challengeair.org.
Additionally, we are looking to secure sponsorship dollars to support these
two events - especially through corporate contributions. Please feel free to
contact me directly regarding questions about event sponsorship and opportunities. Click here to download our event sponsorship form.
We are in the middle of two other big fundraisers: The Aviator
custom chopper motorcycle raffle donated by Cutter Aviation and also Challenge
Air's 16 Year Gala, "Celebrating the
Freedom of Flight." More information about both these fundraisers is
included in this newsletter.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued
support and dedication to Challenge Air's unique and wonderful mission...serving the
many deserving children with special needs throughout the country.
Warmest Regards,
Byron Laszlo
Executive Director
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We Need Your Help...Donations
are Down by More Than 40%!
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In these trying economic times, Challenge Air needs your support. Over the past six months, we've lost the support of many
past corporate sponsors. For small, grass-root organizations like
Challenge Air, this makes a huge impact. It's individual donors that
keep the smaller non-profits alive. Would you please consider a
contribution towards Challenge Air?
As
all the for-profit and non-profit businesses will have to do, Challenge Air
will be strategizing about next year's event locales. Many locations
will have to dropped because of a lack of funding.
We need your
support now (as Rick would say) to help keep the kids flying. Whether you buy a raffle
ticket, purchase a t-shirt, buy tickets to the gala (even if you are not able to attend) or make a straight
contribution...now's the time. Thank you in advance for your support!
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A Volunteer's Perspective...
by Shirley C. Roberts
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Reprinted from Boeing Weights ACIP Organization Newsletter Published
Quarterly
August 29, 2009 Volume 15 In The Spotlight, Challenge Air
It was a picture perfect day in Everett,
Washington on July 18, 2009. The exact location was Castle & Cooke Aviation
at Paine Field in  Everett, WA. The event of the day was "Challenge Air for Kids and
Friends". The Challenge Air web site describes their program as follows:
"Challenge Air for Kids and Friends, a not-for-profit organization, offers
motivational, inspirational and life-changing experiences to physically
challenged children and youth through aviation."
A host of large and small companies came together to
sponsor another successful Challenge Air Fly Day by providing food, activities,
music, volunteers and general support to approximately 130 children and youth
with numerous physical and mental challenges. The day began with the gathering
of volunteers. Positions and stations were assigned and everything was in place
when the guests and their families arrived. And arrive they did! They came in
wheelchairs, some were autistic, some blind, some didn't speak, others were
deaf. The disabilities were numerous, some more obvious than others, but what
they all had in common was a great big smile. Their excitement was on high.
Whether they could communicate a little or a lot, we as volunteers could see
how much fun they were having and what an awesome day it was for them.
The Boeing
Klown Club was on hand in full costume sharing jokes and hugs, a DJ provided
lively music, the Skunkworks robot was in full swing from Aviation High School
and face painters were busy creating colorful designs on kids and adults alike.
We were fed well, both breakfast and lunch and a cake walk was an enormous hit.
Everyone loved their edible prizes! Last, but not least, all the kids went wild
when Ronald McDonald made his appearance; he even joined in the cake walk. No
one will forget Watermelon Wilma, who in real life is  probably just as funny as
she is in her watermelon costume!
The main event of the day started early and ended in the
afternoon. It was a well planned and timed event. Volunteer pilots, flying
either their own small aircraft or a borrowed one, were on hand to give each
young person that qualified as challenged the opportunity to fly in a small
aircraft, for about 30 minutes, over Puget Sound. Not only did they get an
amazing ride, but those who were able got to take the controls for a short
time. There was obvious excitement when boarding the plane, with the help of
volunteer teams, but upon return the excitement really ramped up! The kids were
all smiles; the adults were at times all tears. Each child was awarded their
wings, and a certificate of flight. They came down a "red" carpet
lined with pom-pom shaking cheerleaders offering hoots and hollers of a job
well done. High fives all around as the kids made their walk of fame among the
cheering crowd. What a moment, what a day! This cycle went on all day and none
of us tired of seeing the results of a life time experience and hard work by
everyone. It takes a very big effort to organize a day that seems so free and
easy.
This year the Boeing Company was a community partner with Challenge Air. Joyce Nugent of the Weights Engineering group in Renton
played a major role in making that happen. She contacted and worked with Boeing
Global Corporate Citizenship (GCC). Her persistence paid off. Joyce was
involved last year, as a volunteer through an invitation from Bill Campisteguy,
who has been a part of Challenge Air's Fly Day for three years.
The Challenge Air Fly Day is an annual event at numerous
cities all over the United States. The Everett event is typically the third
Saturday of July. Put a note on your calendar for next year and join the spirit
of volunteering. It is, as they say, life changing for the kids and those of us
who experienced the day with them. The event is free to all participants.
Next year's event will be held Saturday, July 24th at Paine Field, again hosted by Castle and Cooke Aviation.
To find out more about this volunteer opportunity, visit Challenge Air's website...www.challengeair.org.
I had so much fun face painting and enjoying all the
activities that I went to the Challenge Air Fly Day in Aurora Oregon, on August
8th and did it all over again! Once you volunteer, you will never forget it.
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E-Newsletter Ad Space:
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Advertise your business in Challenge Air's e-newsletter. The flyer is sent to over 5,000 friends and supporters of Challenge Air.
Contact Byron Laszlo for rates.
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