In response to devastating tornadoes that struck close to Nashville in December, freshman Jacob Bealle leveraged his background in flying and organized a group of pilots to deliver essential supplies to impacted areas via plane.
His efforts at the time took off, with more and more people lending their time and resources to help. Donations continued to pour in and were delivered to those in need for over a week by Bealle and a group of local pilots.
Seeing the tremendous response, Jacob decided to formalize his desire to help others by starting his own nonprofit, Props for Purpose, which uses aviation to help when natural disaster strikes.
“It takes a community to do this. I am just the organizer, the voice that says we need help,” Jacob explained. “The aviation community is so involved in wanting to help in any way they can. I just took the initiative to start this effort.”
Over the past year, the organization has expanded to focus not only on responding to natural disasters but also on spreading the love of aviation to those who would otherwise not have access – providing flight experiences for kids through partnerships and organizations. Jacob hopes to eventually offer scholarships to individuals to pursue their pilot's licenses and careers in aviation.
“When people lose everything to a disaster, I think that kind of takes their hope with it,” Jacob said. “To get to be a person that offers some of that hope back to them is really moving.”
Despite his passion for aviation, Jacob is currently studying biology at Belmont to pursue his goal of attending medical school one day, driven by that same deep-rooted desire to help others.
“Even from a young age, helping people has always been a part of my life – whether through church outreach or just starting a conversation with someone in daily life. It doesn’t always have to be something so big,” Jacob explained. “And I think that’s the coolest thing about Belmont – they really push you to get involved in the community. And the campus community itself encourages you in whatever it is you’re passionate about.”