Guests at last Friday evening’s Fly Me to the Moon event to benefit Children’s Home Society of Florida, Treasure Coast Division, dined under a projected double moon and met NASA Astronaut Capt. Winston E. Scott, USN-Ret. and wife Marilyn Scott, honorary co-chairs of the elegant fundraising dinner at the Corporate Air hangar.
The hangar floor, where planes had sat parked just 12 hours earlier, was polished to a high shine and a stylish backdrop created an evening reminiscent of a ritzy Miami nightclub from the Rat Pack years.
“We took the planes out this morning at 6 a.m. and I ran the Zamboni over the floors,” laughed event co-chair and Corporate Air owner Rodger Pridgeon. Pridgeon, adopted his nephew when he was 12-years old, and after seeing the impact of positive changes was led to help other children. He has supported CHS with time and sponsorship for the past eight years, explaining, “I can’t adopt them all but at least I can do something to help.”
“It is just gorgeous,” said committee member Elizabeth Sorensen of the ambiance they had created. “It is very warm and inviting and I love the moons overhead. We were worried that the space was too large but this is exactly what we wanted.”
Capt. Scott said he always says ‘yes’ when asked to volunteer his time to a children’s cause, and he was already familiar with CHS through wife Marilyn, an active CHS East Coast volunteer.
“My connection to kids is all over. I consider it my community service to help wherever children are involved,” said Scott who resides in Melbourne. He serves on the Boy Scout Council of Florida, works with the Boys and Girls Club and has also spoken to children at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center.
“Kids are just fascinated by flight, especially in space,” Scott said. “I think that they are receptive to anyone that takes time out with them and shows them that they really care and they are important.”
Scott has had a long illustrious career, most notably logging a total of 24 days, 14 hours and 34 minutes in space, including three spacewalks, as a NASA mission specialist for nine days on Endeavour and 16 on Columbia.
“Space flight is totally different than anything you can imagine,” he said. “I don’t think you can fly in space and not have it affect your outcome, because when you view the earth from space you realize how small and finite it is when you see beyond earth to other planets. You just realize how incredibly awesome the universe is.”
Dale Jacobs, CHSTC Advisory Board Chair, is credited with the idea to invite Scott, whose achievements clearly resonate with their cause.
“We wanted to come up with a theme that brought it all around together; to tell kids to reach for the stars, go for the moon and do the best that they can,” said co-chair Kelly Donovan.
The CHS Transitional Living program, which assists 17 to 23-year olds who have aged out of the foster care system or are homeless at 18 but still attending high school, is just one of the ways the organization helps abused and neglected children.
“We are looking to raise funds tonight to offset some expenses for our nine programs, especially Transitional Living,” said CHS Executive Director Sabrina Sampson. “We hope to raise about $145,000 tonight. The committee and [Orlando event planner] Tim Webber did an amazing job transforming the hangar into a night that’s full of elegance and glitz for our guests.”