BECOME A REGULAR
FOUNDATION DONOR
By Rusty Kennedy, AMA Foundation Chairman | rustyk716@gmail.com
Hello! By way of introduction, I am Rusty Kennedy, the newly elected AMA Foundation board chairman. First, I offer a huge thank-you to Dan Bott, who had chaired the Foundation since 2017. Dan isn’t gone, he has just taken a step back, and is currently serving as a Foundation board member.
First, I’ll share a little bit about myself. I’m a lifelong modeler, having started 61 years ago at age 6. I am an AMA Life Member, Museum Patron, Foundation Torchbearer, District IV Associate Vice President, Flying Site Improvement Grant Committee Chairman, and a few other things. I am a member of several clubs whose members build and fly Control Line and RC model aircraft and I fly for sport. I just like seeing my models fly.
I also belong to the Brainbusters Free Flight (FF) club, which was formed in 1942. I do not fly FF, but I do enjoy being around the club members. Many are retired NASA employees and their stories about the early years of human space flight are spellbinding. Well, enough about me.
My goal as the AMA Foundation chairman is to keep the Foundation moving forward with raising funds to help support AMA’s programs and to continue to build the endowment to a point where the interest that is earned can help offset AMA budget items. All of this is possible if we all work together.
Byron Blakeslee, an AMA Life Member, has generously donated $10,000 to the AMA Foundation Endowment. Some of you might recognize his name because he wrote Model Aviation’s “RC Soaring” column from 1986 through 1992. Thank you so much, Byron.
The Hampton Roads RC Club celebrated National Model Aviation Day with a fun-fly and raffled off a Spacewalker 2. The club generously donated $1,000 to the AMA Foundation general fund.
I am a regular AMA Foundation donor, and you can be one too by becoming a Torchbearer. Visit https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amafoundation/pass-the-torch for more information. It’s the easiest way to support the Foundation.
Read about the AMA Foundation at https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amafoundation.
The AMA Flying Site Improvement Grant is now open and ready to accept club applications. Visit https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amafoundation/what-we-do/grants for more information. Make sure to read the instructions before your club officially submits a grant application. If the club wants the application reviewed before the final submission, that can also be done. Again, thoroughly read the instructions.
