It's not the way a
typical teenager spends a Friday afternoon, testing fuel levels on a
small four-seat plane, but 17-year-old Yves Bellevue of Boston is among
the first in a program that aims to help disadvantaged teens or kids
fighting illness to 'rise above it all'.
As he rolls down the
runway, hands on the controls, Bellevue is given an enormous amount of
responsibility and the opportunity to soar.
"It feels amazing actually, being up in the air," Bellevue told Fox News. "It feels like you're weightless and it's really fun."
Above the Clouds is a Massachusetts-based non-profit founded just over a year ago by lawyer and pilot Gary Oberstein.
"I
became a pilot nine years ago when my wife gave me a little joy ride
here at the airport for my birthday and a few years later I started
flying charity flights for benefits, for galas," said Oberstein.
At one of the benefit events someone who bid on and won his services donated the flights back to the charity.
"So
I flew with these kids- two wagonfulls of kids- and the joy that it
brought to these kids who had never been outside of Boston before was
really amazing and the idea eventually came that why not put together
the love of flying with an interest in helping kids who are one way or
another facing some kind of adversity," said Oberstein.
The Above
the Clouds mission is to bring joy and hope through the wonder of
flight. Volunteer pilots have taken more than two dozen seriously ill
children for rides so far, taking off from the Norwood Memorial Airport
in Norwood, Massachusetts. The kids are called "Dream Flyers."
"They're
going to sit in the copilot's seat and they're actually going to fly
the plane," said Oberstein. "These are kids who've been very, very
sick... through very, very tough times and they haven't experienced much
joy in their lives for a long time."
Another part of the program
focuses on "Cadet Flyers"- teenagers, like Bellevue, who aim to learn
and earn their way to a solo flight.
"The best part is when
they're actually taking off in the program they're thinking, 'well, if I
can do this... then I can do anything, if I just work really hard and
apply myself' and 'the sky is the limit' and that's really the pot of
gold at the end of the runway," said Oberstein.
The drop-out rate
in the Boston Public Schools is nearly 15%, but to be a Cadet Flyer you
must go to class and do your homework. Bellevue lives with his single
mom in the city and says the flight lessons have inspired him.
"This
makes me want to have something definitely to do with planes," said
Bellevue, "like either the Air Force or aerospace engineering to make
better designs for planes."
The message from Above the Clouds is that despite adversity-- with hard work-- a bright future lies on the horizon.
For more information, check out: www.abovethecloudskids.org
Story and video: http://www.foxnews.com
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