MIDFIRST OHIO CHALLENGE HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE CURE STARTS NOW

MidFirst Credit Union, primary sponsor of the MidFirst Ohio Challenge hot air balloon festival, is joining with festival planners to help raise funds for The Cure Starts Now.  MidFirst Credit Union will be accepting donations at their booth for a chance to win a balloon ride, skydive or a tethered balloon ride. They will be giving all donations to The Cure Starts Now.  The MidFirst Ohio Challenge souvenir booth will be selling lighted balloons each evening for $3 each and donating the profits to the same cause.

MidFirst Ohio Challenge is a complete festival wrapped around hot air balloon competition and skydiving demonstrations. Festival dates are Friday, July 18, 4-10:30pm, Saturday, July 19, Noon-10:30pm, and Sunday Noon-8pm. Admission is $5 per carload or $2 per adult walk-in – children under 13 are free with adults. For a full schedule of events visit www.MidFirstOhioChallenge.com.

The choice of charity was an easy one for both groups. At the 2007 MidFirst Ohio Challenge, the Desserich family visited the hot air balloon festival as guests of the event. At that time, the family of four included a very seriously ill little girl, five year old Elena, dying of a brain tumor -DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma). She unfortunately passed away just a few weeks later. That brief encounter tugged at the hearts of those involved. 

When the parents Keith and Brooke Desserich started The Cure Starts Now foundation to raise funds for research into this deadly, fast moving disease, the balloon and skydiver group quickly agreed to help with fund-raising.  A major fund-raiser was held in Cincinnati – Once In A Lifetime, at which several unusual experiences were auctioned off--  including skydiving and a hot air balloon ride.

For more information visit www.thecurestartsnow.org.