“Motivation through Aviation” to turn teens into pilots

The City of Hayward is partnering with Citizinvestor – a crowdfunding and civic engagement platform for local government projects – to empower citizens to invest in their community.

The City has launched its first-ever crowdfunding campaign to raise $43,200 to expand a program to teach low income and at-risk youth how to fly.

The City is partnering with East Bay Aviators, a non-profit located at the Hayward Executive Airport, that has proven they can take a teenager from knowing nothing about aviation to obtaining a private pilot’s license. Now, the City needs the help of citizens to expand the program to more youth.

Citizens can donate to the project but their credit cards will not be charged unless the project reaches 100% of its funding goal before the deadline. All donations are tax deductible.

“This initiative is amazing on a number of levels,” said Hayward spokesman Frank Holland. “Most young people – and particularly those with limited financial means – would never enjoy this type of opportunity. We’re hoping that the community will see that there’s a significant return on investment when we empower Hayward youth to pursue ambitious goals. With this project, we’re helping young people to develop a highly marketable skill and providing an incentive for them to build a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and math.”

While budgets in municipalities across the United States have tightened in recent years, Citizinvestor provides an alternative funding source for projects that cities don’t have budget for, but for which citizens are clearly passionate. The City of Hayward is the 23rd municipality to crowdfund a project on Citizinvestor. Three projects in San Mateo County and one in Elk Grove, California have already been funded on the platform.

Citizinvestor Co-founder Jordan Raynor said of the launch of Hayward’s first project, “Citizens have proven eager to invest in public goods in Northern California. We are thrilled to be empowering the citizens of Hayward to invest in the lives of the youth who will benefit from this great program.”  

For more details on the City’s first crowdfunding project, please visit www.citizinvestor.com