Pets topped people after pilots voted online for their favorite aviation-based charity to select the top five Lightspeed Aviation Foundation winners receiving cash awards of $2,000 to $10,000.
Pilots N Paws, the charity that unites aviators with animals in need of rescue, shelter, or fostering, will use the $10,000 grant to host flyaway events and fund booth space at aviation events, according to a news release announcing the results Oct. 16 from the Flying magazine Aviation Expo in Palm Springs, California.
All in all, a dozen 2015 Pilots Choice Grant candidates were on the ballot as finalists competing for the funds that were awarded based on the number of votes cast for each entity.
The Ninety-Nines, which advances women in aviation, received $8,000 as the runner-up; the Civil Air Patrol was awarded $6,000 to help fund search-and-rescue missions, emergency services, and aerospace education; New Tribes Mission Aviation received $4,000 for their missionary work in remote areas around the world; and JAARS, the aviation-based Bible translation network, was awarded $2,000.
"Since its inception, the Pilots Choice voting and awards have introduced us all to dozens of worthy charities," Lightspeed Aviation President Allan Schrader said in a press release. "It is such an honor to support these incredible organizations. It is our prayer that the entire aviation community will bond together and use our gifts to help others."
The remaining finalists will each receive a Lightspeed headset.
