Events: Honoring those who help

Inspiration Awards were presented to Sean D. Tucker and Red Bull, and Endeavor Awards were presented to Gary Dyson, chief pilot for Orbis, and Merry Schroeder, the “longest-serving volunteer pilot” with conservation group LightHawk. Endeavor Award recipients exemplify performance that “exceeds expectations and distinguishes the nominee from others.”

Dyson has been volunteering with Orbis International since 2001 and has flown 36 missions in 18 years. AOPA featured the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital in “One Glorious Vision” (April 2019 AOPA Pilot). Schroeder has made 387 volunteer LightHawk flights to date.

Since 2014, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood has lent its rarified atmosphere to the Endeavor Awards to honor volunteer pilots across the nation. The brainchild of movie and TV mogul Mark Wolper, the Endeavor Awards uses pageantry and pizzazz to recognize pilots who use their aircraft for humanitarian purposes.

The event is situated in the dramatic space shuttle pavilion of the California Science Center, and guests dine under the belly of the shuttle Endeavour. The event ends on a grand note with a rousing performance by a California high school marching band, but the people the Endeavor Awards honor are the true stars.

“The Endeavor Awards celebrate and honor volunteer pilots and provide support to the organizations that coordinate their gifts of flight to serve those in need,” according to the website. “Every year thousands of donated flights save lives, provide access to medical care, transport veterans, rescue animals, map environmental data, aid in disaster relief, and contribute to the public good in communities nationwide.”

The Endeavor Awards were established by Angel Flight West, a volunteer pilot organization that Wolper flies for and that arranges more than 4,000 flights each year in 13 western states. Wolper recognized the need for a national platform to increase awareness and support for the use of aviation by individual pilots and their commercial airline partners to provide free transportation for humanitarian purposes.

Past winners have included pilots who provided life-saving transportation to children suffering from rare forms of cancer and disease, pilots who dedicate their time to find new homes for animals destined to kill shelters, and pilots who help veterans get medical treatment in hospitals far from their homes.

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