Shelby County Aviation Assn Memorial Charity Flight

Great story on CBS42

Julie Welden — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:31:29 +0000

Check out the video-

http://bit.ly/kkHmCh

Mission accomplished

Julie Welden — Sun, 22 May 2011 01:34:23 +0000

Some delayed due to overcast this morning, but most were able to depart. CBS42 sent a reporter and camera with us, will be on at 10:00 news tonight. Shelby Reporter also had one fly with us.

Lower Alabama Parrotheads met us at the airport again this year and brought donations. Good day!

Toys- covered. New need- cleaning supplies & cash

Julie Welden — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:12:12 +0000

Our Gulf Coast contact has advised that we now have a mountain of toys collected in Gulf Shores, and the need has shifted to cleaning supplies and cash donations. Checks can be made out to SCAA. Broadcast coverage on the coast is looking phenomenal. Thanks so much, Jimmy V!! EET continues to serve as a B’ham area drop-off point for donations.

Let’s pack up those scales, remove the big trash bags from weighty boxes & stuff in one of the bags to carry down there on Saturday. Organizing & distribution on return will be ongoing from EET.

Donations will be distributed according to need/request in areas where we have contacts, such as Tuscaloosa, Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, DeKalb county and other areas yet to be identified. SCAA organizers will have specifics.

Fuzzies fly to Haleyville

Julie Welden — Wed, 11 May 2011 02:52:10 +0000

Two ladies dropped off approximately 50-70 stuffed animals and toys at EET yesterday!!
Sandy Carruth and Rhonda Pyatt flew one load of them up to Haleyville, AL in Sandy’s 182 to be distributed to the Phil Campbell, Al area that was hit hard by the storms.

More info for participants

Julie Welden — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:16:18 +0000

Last Saturday’s organizers’ meeting produced a few more specifics for the event:

There will be a $5 per person donation collected at registration to cover ground transportation, ready and waiting for us when we arrive at JKA in Gulf shores.
Local pilots can participate in the event no matter what airport they fly out of.
Since we’ll be bringing back as many of the donated items as possible, please bring these items with you-

big plastic garbage bags
portable scale if you have one

Whatever cannot fit or puts us over weight for the return trips will be picked up later in the week by some of the group driving down in a van or truck.
We are still determining the best way to distribute collected items- the organizers are in process of identifying local contacts in the more isolated areas devastated by the tornadoes.

Gulf Shores water park on board to collect toy donations

Julie Welden — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:04:02 +0000

From Johnny Barnes-

Thanks to a contact we had down on the coast, Jimmy Vineyard has contacted the Clear Channel radio stations from Mobile to Panama City to do radio spots advising people we are flying down on the 21st and seeking toys for children affected by the tornados. He is working to get us TV coverage also. He also contacted the owners of Waterville USA, a waterpark in Gulf Shores, and they will be doing a promotion for discounts on admission to the park for toy donations on the 21th. They will be paying for all advertising in the area promoting this and will say it is to support the SCAA fly in/ride in.

Pretty cool!

One year later- 1st Annual Jerry Hoggatt Memorial Event

Julie Welden — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:20:12 +0000

Fly-In Date: Saturday May 21, Shelby County Airport (KEET) to Jack Edwards Airport (KJKA) for lunch and shopping.

Yep, we’re back and ready to show our support to recent victims of Alabama disasters…this time in memory of our friend and fellow pilot Jerry Hoggatt. Our dedicated organizers have decided that’s it’s going to be an annual event, which is made to order for the close-knit aviation community here in the Birmingham area…hopefully will become just as important to add to our yearly spring calendars as SunNFun.

Stay tuned for more info-

Our incredible welcoming committee

Julie Welden — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:53:48 +0000

http://www.lalph.org/

Lower Alabama Parrot Heads- this group of local folks clad in bright yellow t-shirts greeted the arrivals with open arms, laughter, thanks, and mardi gras beads. Check out their website, look them up next time you get down that way, and say thanks to them for their amazing volunteer efforts on the coast. More warm fuzzies all around.

Found CNN link

Julie Welden — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:48:40 +0000

This is an excellent video, appears that this is what all the other news outlets picked up and ran…

CNN.com Added On July 19, 2010
Private planes bring more than 70 people to the Gulf to shop at stores hurting from the oil disaster.
title: Tourists shop to support the gulf coast

http://www.cnn.com/search/?query=tourists%20shop&primaryType=mixed&sortBy=date&intl=false

Aftermath- keep it up whenever you can

Julie Welden — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:27:18 +0000

The beaches were still beautiful this weekend, and amazingly clean, despite the double orange flags looming all along the beachfronts of the hotels. The flag warning was a caution about the hazardous chemicals still in the water–dispersants in addition to those used to quench the oil fires, according to one hotel manager. Cleanup crews and trucks continued to patrol the beach,all day and all night. People for the most part slept, read, played on the beach and still had a great time. The food was still amazing, the gift shops intriguing for all.

So far, the BP tests have been positive, so next are crossed fingers for the success of the relief well drilling scheduled for August.

It was warm fuzzies all around for everyone who participated in this event…and an inspiration to what we hope are countless other groups who can do the same thing to make a difference on the Gulf Coast. Gulf Shores is close to the hearts of southerners who grew up vacationing on the beaches there, and southern hospitality and concern for the well-being of others is in their blood. It was a natural act of kindness magnified a million times.