By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The vision of Pilot International is to create a world where all are valued. The Great Bend Pilot Club has approximately 50 members, but those volunteers accounted for more than 14,000 hours of community service last year. For those efforts and more, the local club was recently recognized as one of the top Pilot Clubs in the world.
"Our main focus is encouraging brain safety and health," said Great Bend Club Vice President Rhonda Knudson, "and supporting those who care for others, and making our community a better place."
Knudson, as well as Dan and Barbara Watson, current and past club presidents, respectively, attended the 101st Pilot International Convention and Leadership Conference in Bellevue, Wash. at the end of June. Pilot Club has served the Barton County area for 36 years, and received several international awards for a second year.
The Great Bend club received first place for Outstanding Pilot Club Overall, Outstanding Volunteer Hours, and Outstanding Pilot Club Visibility for its use of a website, social media, other forms of media, and its many events in the community. The Great Bend club won second place for the Pick Me Up Project. The group has previously recognized individual caregivers, the Barton County Health Department and Center for Counseling. This year's project involved "popping" over to say thank you with popcorn gifts to police, fire, sheriff's office, and 911 dispatch personnel.
"They are huge caregivers in our community," Knudson said. "Not everyone says thank you, or even thinks about saying thank you. That's what the pick-me-up project is all about."
Local Pilot Club members are also known as the "Helmet People." The group recently handed out nearly 30 bicycle helmets at the Hoisington Police Department's Bike Rodeo. Great Bend students earn bicycles for perfect attendance at the end of each school year, and Pilot Club also outfits those students with helmets.
"We give away bike helmets, and more importantly, we make sure the bicycle helmets we give away fit the children, basically from ages 3-14, so that they can play and ride safely," said Knudson.
The Great Bend club recently helped with Orphan Grain Train that helped pack more than 51,000 meals for shipment overseas. In March, it donated $200 to the Great Bend Public Library Summer Reading Program. The club is ever-present as a sponsor of the Walk to End Alzheimer's. On Aug. 22, the club, along with Lions Club, is hosting Holocaust survivor and author Mildred Schindler-Janzen for a noon event at Perkins in Great Bend.
Knudson said the club welcomes members of all ages, and members run the gamut of professions in Barton County. There are no local dues to join, but minimal district and international dues are prorated throughout the year.
"Our members take to heart the fact that we are a service club," Knudson said. "We have men and women in our club and we don't just sit around and have lunch. We're pretty active."
For more information on the club or to track its activities, find the Pilot Club of Great Bend on Facebook or visit greatbendpilotclub.com.