Sponsoring the USNA Sport Parachuting Team
Posted: 1/30/2018
To update you about fundraising to help the USNA Parachute Team get Navy-themed parachute rigs for competitions and demos, first let me openly admit that I’d never be hired as a professional fundraiser… I’m sure there are rules of thumb that include not asking people for money right before the Christmas holidays, for example! But the timing is what it is. We have the Inter-Service Academy Meet (ISAM) coming in April, which will likely also include midshipmen doing a demo jump alongside Army cadets into Michie Stadium at West Point for the Army-Navy lacrosse game. We hope to have the mids outfitted appropriately for those events and you can’t buy those rigs off the shelf at the last minute, so that has to serve as my excuse for the poor timing!
A big “Thank you” to those of you who’ve contributed so far. I addressed the club and team mids (nearly 50) in Rickover a couple of weeks back, and I can’t overstate how much they appreciate the alumni support.
Bad timing or not, we are just short of halfway to our goal with about $19,950 to date at last count. Right now, it looks like two parachute containers are set to be embroidered with class numbers: Class of 1977 and Class of 1979 (actually maybe two for them). It’s great to have “Platinum Level members,” of course, and their photos will hang proudly in the team parachute loft, but I still believe in the value of many small contributions adding up, so if you have the opportunity, please be part of this effort and put in anything you can, no matter how small. I’ve reached out to hundreds of folks now, and you can imagine what even $25-50 contributions can do with numbers like that.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, please take a quick look at the photos to the right (top – Air Force; middle – Navy; bottom (Army) and you’ll see why we’re working so hard to outfit the Navy team to – yes – look like a Navy team! Note the complete contrast to the Air Force and West Point teams. The team mids purchase Navy-style jump suits on their own (about $350 a copy), so they have at least that in common, but they won’t be able to do demonstration jumps into the stadium for the Brigade until they fully look like a team, for obvious reasons.
Thanks to great support from the front office, the team competed 
in the USPA National Collegiate Parachuting Championships in Lake Wales, Florida with ten other teams over the Christmas break. The return of the mids to the competition was VERY popular among both event organizers and student participants and a lot of great relationships were formed and support offered for the team’s growth. I’m hopeful when they’re up at West Point for the ISAM competition that at least one team member will be sporting a Class of 1972 rig!
Again, the USNA Foundation is doing the work for us and the easiest way to contribute is online:
Go online at www.usna.com and select “Make a Gift” and then make sure when you put in your information, type in “USNA Parachute Team ECA” in the free-text block marked “Other.” Don’t forget that crucial step!!!! Make sure to include 1972 in the Class box to get credit for the contribution.
If you don’t like the online routine, send a check to the Foundation with “USNA Parachute Team” in the Memo line, accompanied by a short note saying you are donating this money specifically for the Parachute Team.
Address your note and check to:
USNA Foundation
291 Wood Road, Beach Hall
Annapolis, MD 21402-1254
ATTN: Class Giving Coordinator
I’ll let you know if we’re successful raising enough for a Class of 1972 rig, but otherwise this will close out my effort with the group. Thanks again to all of you for your consideration and to the Class for allowing me to use this venue one more time.
Tried and true —
Bill Boniface ‘72
« 2018 Another Link in the Chain (ALITC) Events
