The Pilot Club of Great Bend begins the fall season with a variety of activities and projects that benefit several groups and people in the community and the county.
Pilot club kicked off the season with their quilting project. Members quilt and tie at least 30 quilts for children in the foster care system, a project that Great Bend Pilots have supported and given to for over seven years.
On Oct, 7, Pilot members planned to participate in the Walk To End Alzheimer’s. Pilot Club of Great Bend has been a fundraiser and a major sponsor for this event in Barton County for several years.
Oct. 17 is their Networking and Membership event from 5-7 p.m. at the Classic Inn on South Patton Road. This after-hours event is designed to share information about Pilot International and the local club. The community is invited to learn more about Pilot International and its aim to promote awareness for brain-safe practices, injury prevention and mindful behavior. Since 1992, Pilot International has worked in the area of brain related service and awareness.
On Oct. 24, Pilot Club members will volunteer for the Body Venture Experience. For years Great Bend Pilot members have been the guides for the students who get a tour of the human body at an exhibit being set up at high school. Body Venture is an interactive exhibit that tours the state of Kansas in the hopes of teaching students to eat smart and play hard. The students will experience “brain waves” and will be “swallowed” through the esophagus, move on to the stomach then the small intestine, where they are “absorbed” into the blood. Then they follow the path of nutrients to the heart, lungs, bones, muscle and skin. The traveling Body Venture exhibit was developed and is operated by Child Nutrition & Wellness, a division of the Kansas State Department of Education.
For almost 100 years, Pilot Club member volunteers have been accomplishing extraordinary things. Originally designed as a volunteer service organization for business and professional women, Pilot International has since expanded to include men and women from around the globe and in all walks of life.
The historic inspiration for the name was the riverboat pilot who would steer a true course through calm or troubled waters; thus, for almost 100 years, Pilots have served under the motto “True Course Ever.” Today’s Pilots find their “true course” through their charge to do more, care more and be more every day.