Serena's Song
Serena's
Song is the World's First Wheelchair Accessible Hot-Air Balloon approved by the
Federal Aviation Administration. Since its humble beginning in 1985,
Serena's Song has carried over 12,000 disabled passengers over countless miles,
all over the US.
The balloon was named for Serena, now 21 years of age, who suffered
complications during birth. When Serena was two, her father Gary Waldman
received an invitation to give Serena a ride in a hot air balloon. Her reaction
was priceless! Up until then, Serena was emotionless and unable to speak;
indeed, Gary was uncertain how much of the world his daughter was absorbing.
But as the balloon soared upwards, Serena screamed with delight. It was then
that Gary decided to commit his life to re-creating that experience for other
persons with disabilities. He bought a balloon and named it Serena's Song.
Since that time, Gary, and his partner Phil Gray (who is also the balloons
creator and pilot) have traveled across the US, bringing Serena's Song to
numerous communities and balloon festivals, and in doing so, bringing
inspiration to thousands of disabled people.
ATC
became involved in Serena's Song when one of ATC’s Senior VP's, saw an
article about the balloon in a local newspaper. The title of the article was
"Looking for a Savior."
The newspaper article detailed Gary and Serena's story, and put out an all
points bulletin for a national sponsor to assist with costs that were not being
covered by the local donations (that covered the basic operating costs and
pilot fees but not much else). Indeed without this savior, the demise of
Serena's Song was imminent.
To the rescue came ATC and then Veolia Transportation, as that national
sponsor. We have provided Serena's Song with a new van, and have given the
trailer a new lease on life (with a special thank you to our maintenance crew
in South Holland, Illinois). We have also pledged our employees nationwide
as volunteers to help disseminate information about Serena's Song, to help get
people to and from the balloon when it comes to the communities we serve, and
most importantly, to spearhead the local sponsorship drives in those
communities.