Soaring Through Service: The Pilot Club of Lancaster featuring Kelly Osborne: Episode 114

Lancaster Connects

This episode features Kelly Osborne, a volunteer with the Pilot Club of Lancaster and serves currently as the President Elect. The Pilot Club of Lancaster is a volunteer service club that was established in Lancaster County in 1947. PCOL was instrumental in launching the Meals on Wheels program in Lancaster in 1967 and still continues to support the program through volunteer deliveries and donations. Pilot Club of Lancaster's signature service program in Project Lifesaver, a search and rescue program for public safety agencies to quickly locate persons who wander due to a cognitive condition like autism, dementia, and Alzheimer's. The club launched the program in 2012 with West Hempfield Police Department being the first agency to run the program in Lancaster County. Today, the club supports the 20 police departments involved county wide to include the PA State Police, Troop J Lancaster.

Kelly is a retired Pennsylvania State Police Master Trooper and was last stationed at Troop J Lancaster as the Community Services Officer. It was late 2019, when her father, who suffered from dementia, wandered away from his assisted living facility and was found deceased. Kelly found Project Lifesaver, an international nonprofit and learned the Pilot Club was already supporting police agencies in the county who were participating in the program. Kelly made it her mission to bring Troop J Lancaster on board, thus enabling Project Lifesaver to extend to the entire county.

In January 2022, Project Lifesaver launched at Troop J Lancaster. Kelly retired in January 2023, after 25 years as a state trooper. She continues to be involved with the program through her volunteer work with the Pilot Club and as a National Trainer for Project Lifesaver International.