A Day in the Sky for kids in San Jose...

Saturday, August 9, was an amazing day for kids with special needs who came to the VMC Foundation's "Day In the Sky" event.

Truly, I'm humbled that the VMC Foundation was even associated with this event...we were the main fiscal sponsors, for sure, but hats are WAY off to Dean McCully and Lisa Bickford who organized the bulk of the work, and without whom it would NOT have happened.

Hundreds of children with autism, ADHD, and lots of other challenges soared above Silicon Valley thanks to dozens of voluteer pilots, including Chris Malachowski, who founded Nvidia and who also owns and flies a helecoptor. Chris and his family are also generous donors to the VMC Foundation's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The San Jose Mercury News covered the big event, starting below...but read the full story - you'll be totally inspired, and thrilled that VMC Foundation volunteers like Dean and Lisa are looking out for kids in our community. Check it out:

Emerging from a Cessna that had finished flitting over Silicon Valley's treetops and tilt-ups, 16-year-old Ryan Brown's first-ever jaunt in a small plane made him give an excited little jump when asked if it was fun.

"It sure was," shouted the soon-to-be 10th-grader at San Jose's Del Mar High. According to his mom, Moira Brown, Ryan suffers from autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Noting that the pilot allowed him to briefly operate the controls, the teen added, "The best thing about it was learning to fly."

Mission accomplished for the organizers of "Take Flight for Kids," hosted Saturday at San Jose's Reid-Hillview Airport by the Valley Medical Center Foundation.