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March, April area key months for Pilot Club
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Pilot Club members celebrate Brain Awareness Week with a proclamation signed by Great Bend Mayor Cody. Back row, from left: Amanda Staab, Mary Cramer, Marty Schloemer, Cristy Suchy, Billie Bonomo, Missy Zimmer, Dan Watson, President Barbara Watson, Nancy Schuetz, Sherri Williams and Rhonda Knudson. Front row: Vicki Richardson, Mary Doherty, Sharon Mauler, Mayor Schmidt, Joyce Beadles-Fry and Betty Schneider. Not pictured but present: Chris Rippel and Renee Johnson.

March and April are important months for the Pilot Club of Great Bend. March is the is the launch of the club’s Alzheimer’s walk team. For over a decade, the club has participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s by being a major sponsor for the event held in October.

Today, 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050 this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million. The disease not only affects the person with Alzheimer’s but their loved ones who are usually their caregivers. Whether you are living with Alzheimer’s or caring for someone with the disease, information and resources are available from the Alzheimer’s Association. Go to ALZ.org for more information.


Brain Awareness 

In March, Pilot Club hosts a Chamber Coffee to share the Pilot story and inform the community about its focus of encouraging brain safety and health and supporting those who care for others. That is why March’s Brain Awareness Week is important. For 15 years, Pilot has initiated a proclamation signing with the city mayor to raise awareness.


Geranium fundraiser

The club’s geranium fundraiser kick-off is in March. For 34 years, the Great Bend club has heralded spring by selling geraniums to beautify the community. Delivery is in May, just in time for Mother’s Day.

Autism Awareness and Acceptance

April is a month with a focus on autism awareness and acceptance. April 2 is Autism Awareness Day, and the entire month of April is Autism Acceptance Month.

A proclamation signing with the county commissioners helps raise awareness regarding how autism is prevalent in our community and our nation.

Where we are fighting for a cure for Alzheimer’s, autism is a lifelong way of life for an autistic child who grows up to be an autistic adult. You can support awareness by wearing blue throughout the month. In 2023, the CDC reported that approximately 1 in 36 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to 2020 data. Early intervention affords the best opportunity to support healthy development and deliver benefits across the lifespan. Most children were still being diagnosed after age 4, though autism can be reliably diagnosed as early as age 2.

Pilot Club encourages acceptance, understanding and inclusion with daily acts of kindness. Creating a kinder, more inclusive world for people with autism through daily acts of kindness. 

These are just two months within the Pilot Club year. Pilot Club is a growing and active service organization here in Barton County and works with many community partners too. As the club motto states, “improve the quality of life in our community.”