http://www.bigspringherald.com/content/giving-back-glider-pilots-provide-6000-local-kids

For years, hang glider pilots have raved about the hospitality
they find in Big Spring. Saturday night, they displayed some generosity of their
own.

On the eve of the U.S. Hang Gliding Association National Championship, The
Cloudbase Foundation, a charitable group financed through hang glider pilot
donations, gave away $6,000 to three local organizations which specialize in
helping children.

Big Spring Independent School District, Howard Cottage and the local Child
Welfare Board each received $2,000 checks from the pilots' organization during a
welcoming reception for the pilots at Hog Heaven Party Barn. The charitable
foundation was formed less than three years ago, said Belinda Straub, who
presented the donations Saturday night.

“It was started by a group of pilots who went down to Ecuador and were struck by
the level of poverty there,” Straub said. “The next year they went, they brought
money with them to donate to the people there … We said, 'You know, we could do
this every year.'”

The foundation typically makes donations at several meets a year as a way of
building an emotional bridge between the pilots and the communities where they
compete. “We feel grateful to come to Big Spring and we definitely enjoy being
here,” Straub said. “We don't think of Big Spring as a poor place, but these are
rough economic times, and we know there are children here who need a helping
hand.”

BSISD will use its donation to purchase school supplies for needy children and
Howard Cottage, the daycare center operated by Howard College, will use its
donation for parents who can't afford the Cottage's services. The Child Welfare
Board, meanwhile, will use its money to purchase various items for its Rainbow
Room, which services children who have been removed from their homes.

David Glover, right, director of the U.S. Hang Gliding Association, addresses the crowd at a Saturday evening welcoming reception at Hog Heaven Part Barn for participants in this week's national hang gliding championship, which is being held at McMahon-Wrinkle Airpark.