AMA Foundation Challenge by the Newport News Park Radio Control Club
Congratulations tot he Newport News Park Radio Control Club for raising $1,764.00 for the AMA Foundation! What an accomplishment! The Newport News Park Radio Control Club formed a committee and drafted up a proposal on how their club can contribute to the AMA Foundation in support of our mission and vision. The AMA's Mission is “to advance the organizational goals of the Academy of Model Aeronautics through the financial support of its charitable programs.” The AMA's Vision is “to inspire financial support for Aeromodelling as a hobby, sport, and scientific pursuit – a legitimate part of our communities and a necessary component of the aeronautical continuum.” The NNPRCC committee came up with a program called the “AMA Foundation Challenge.” This challenge consists of three primary objectives:
- Promote awareness of the AMA Foundation’s mission and vision
- Provide annual financial support to the AMA Foundation General Fund
- Challenge individuals and organizations to support the AMA Foundation
The first part of the challenge is to promote awareness of the AMA Foundation. To do this, the proposal calls for developing and maintaining a small supply of printed materials to have at club events. These materials will provide information about the AMA and ways to join the club. In addition to the printed materials, electronic materials will be hosted on the club website. This material would provide an overview of how the AMA benefits all model aviation enthusiasts and hyperlinks to the AMA Foundation website. Part two of the proposal is to provide annual financial support. Using club funds, the committee would purchase a “grand prize” item to sell raffle tickets for. The committee will sell raffle tickets for a period of time and after completion of the raffle, the club’s treasury will be reimbursed and all remaining proceeds will be allocated to the AMA Foundation General Fund. In addition to the grand prize auction, featured items will be raffled off exclusively during the club's National Model Aviation Day celebration including a completely ready-to-fly electric trainer, a 1-year club membership, and more! Lastly, the proposal suggests having a sponsored cookout for club members and guests, with prominently placed containers soliciting donations. All proceeds from the sponsored cookout will be allocated to the AMA Foundation General Fund. The final part of the AMA Foundation Challenge is to challenge others. The proposal calls for development of a brief report, to be used for post-event promotion. This report should include images or videos from the AMA Challenge activities before and during an event, a note of appreciation for participants and volunteers, and disclosure of the total proceeds raised. This report should encourage individuals, clubs and other organizations to meet or exceed the efforts put on by the club. The post-event report can be shared with various local and national media outlets. The AMA Foundation encourages other clubs to use the proposal made by the NNPRCC committee as an example to raise money for the foundation. 
The Rock River Aero Modelers Society recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $175. The club is located in Janesville, WI. Club secretary and treasurer, Larry Nitz, was invited to give a presentation about their club to the Janesville Noon Rotary Club. The presentation took place on April 15 and there were 50-60 community leaders at the luncheon.
We would like to thank JAG RC, owned by Greg and Jenni Alderman, for contributing a portion of the sale of Showtime smoke oil back to the AMA Foundation. The smoke oil will be available at different shows throughout the country this flying season. "Showtime" Model Aviation smoke oil is formulated from the same base stock used by the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and now by several well-known pilots in the RC jet pilot community.
The Casa Grande RC Flyers were named a "Gold Level Leader Club" for the third year in a row. The club is one of 151 clubs out of over 2,400 clubs to receive this title. The club was recognized in their local paper. The club is largely supported by the city, local businesses and the community. The club changed their schedule in April so their members can use the club airfield at any time. They have also scheduled their 2019-2020 events.
The Flying For Good featured March submission is the Coffee Airfoilers. The club is located in Tullahoma, TN. The club hosts their annual "Fly Away Cancer" event in April. 
The event will be held on April 27 at their flying field off of Wattendorf Highway in Tullahoma.
The Tampa Radio Control Aircraft Club recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $150. The club is located in Seffner, FL. The club's airfield is the Hillsborough Heights Solid Waste Facility. The open space is a closed landfill which makes it the perfect place to take flight. The club pays $10 a year to use the space to fly.
Terry Wiles and his wife won an AMA Goldberg award with a check for $200. After receiving the award with the check, the Wiles decided that they wanted to give back to the District IX Camp AMA Scholarship Fund. In the fall of 2015, Jim Tiller was new to the AMA Executive Council. Tiller was informed of a young man who would be a great candidate for Camp AMA.
The Flying For Good featured February submission is the Casa Grade RC Flyers. The club is located in Casa Grande, AZ. The Casa Grande RC Flyers held their sixth annual Air Show on Saturday, March 9. The event was free to the public and the event benefitted The Valley Humane Society. The event raised thousands of dollars for the humane society. The Casa Grande RC Flyers is an AMA Gold Level Leader club. There were about 250 people who attended the event.
Congratulations to the Casa Grande RC Flyers for having a successful event and raising money for their local humane society. The AMA Foundation wants to know how your club has given back to charity. To learn more about the Flying For Good Program, click 
