Support Bala & Laura's Safe Flying Journey

For those of you who don't know Bala and Laura from the RVHPA Rogue Valley Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club, let me introduce you. These two outstanding individuals have completely dedicated themselves over the last years to the service of their community. They spent countless nights and days brainstorming and coming up with plans to hold and maintain an amazing community founded by very dedicated hang glider and paraglider pilots, and this famous magic flying area that has thrived over the latter half of this century. Bringing new pilots here, mentoring and teaching every single level, bringing the non-flying community together with the club, and creating an incredible week-long event that was fully based on learning, fun, safety, and most importantly, community, is the heart of their service the past couple of years.

While I have participated in many flying events in my 13 years, I have never seen anything like the Rat Route 238. I have watched these two great human beings every day of the last year working relentlessly to make this happen. While we all get to come and participate, work our normal jobs, and buy our new equipment, I have witnessed this background work from these two with no personal or financial benefit other than serving their community.

Both of them have been in need of upgrading their wings for some time now, and I believe we, as a community, can help. As Laura has put all her finances into trying to develop a home by hand with places for other pilots to stay one day, while helping build up the club, she has had little left to put towards this goal. Bala has dedicated his life to serving and teaching Ayurvedic medicine and yoga workshops around the country, only accepting donations, with his life goal of serving God through community service. He has also been limited in the ability to afford the newest, safest gear for the conditions he flies in.

For those of you who know Woodrat, she is a force of nature and an extremely technical, but fun, flying site. Having safe and confidence-inspiring equipment here can make or break the experience, as all bandwidth needs to be used for learning and staying vigilant while flying cross-country and navigating new terrain.

There are not two individuals I can think of that would be more deserving of this small gift that I believe we can easily put together as a community. I would like to raise enough money to upgrade both their wings to the wing of their choice and see if the manufacturer will sponsor a lesser price for these outstanding representatives of our sport. If any money is left over afterward, it will be placed in an annual scholarship fund, run by the club, that gives back to the most service-oriented club members each year.