Award Of $10,000 Elevates Pilot Recruitment Efforts

The AOPA Foundation, which is the charitable arm of AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), named LightHawk as a 2013 grant recipient along with nine other aviation organizations. LightHawk is using the award to support its efforts to attract pilots to volunteer their flying to benefit environmental protection efforts.

The AOPA Foundation grant recipients were chosen from more than 80 applicants and cover a variety of aviation organizations that rely on general aviation to provide services.
 
“This program was developed to spotlight the good work being done in the GA community,” said Stephanie Kenyon, the AOPA Foundation’s vice-president of strategic philanthropy. “It’s also our way of supporting those groups that are making a difference through charitable programs that rely on general aviation.”
 
“We were pleased to receive the AOPA Foundation grant. It has been a real asset as we reach out to general aviation pilots who want to make their flying go farther and mean more,” says Greg Bedinger, LightHawk’s Pilot Outreach Manager. “We will be using funds from the award as we gear up to attend several events including the AOPA Fly-In at Plymouth Municipal Airport on July 12th.”
 
Bedinger continues, “events like the Plymouth fly-in are a great chance to meet qualified pilots and engage them in our work locally. LightHawk volunteer pilots in the Northeast have opportunities to survey eelgrass beds in Cape Cod Bay, use aerial telemetry to spot wildlife such as black bears, and assist their local land trust to name just a few.”
 
LightHawk is a unique aviation organization which leverages a network of more than 200 volunteer pilots who provide in excess of 400 flights each year to help conservation groups elevate their efforts - both literally and figuratively.

FMI: www.lighthawk.org