Corporate Volunteer of the Year – Finalist
Steve Sorge
Post market QA/RA manager, GE Healthcare
Steve Sorge has had a passion for flying since he was 12 years old. Now, as post market QA/RA manager at GE Healthcare in Waukesha, his passion has taken on new wings as he engages with local youth on a variety of levels.
Sorge helped found 88Charlies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting aviation by enabling youth to restore airplanes. Sorge estimates he has donated more than 1,500 hours of service to the organization, and also works with children at a local middle school. He measures his success, however, through the lives of the children who have been impacted – some of whom have gone on to study aviation and even become commercial pilots.
88Charlies is founded on the idea that “we don’t build airplanes with kids, we build kids with airplanes.”
Every Saturday, Sorge and other volunteers gather at Palmyra Municipal Airport to work with students.
“Helping build or restore an airplane fosters teamwork, uses math and science and instills confidence,” Sorge said. “I have watched a number of kids bloom and discover a new calling. I want to open new doors for these kids.”
