DELAND -- Don Sugg has no time for pity parties.

His motto is simple: think positive. It's kept him alive for nearly a century.

Ask him for his secret for his longevity, and you'll get a simple answer.

“If you want to get old fast, sit down on the back side of your lap and do nothing,” Sugg said.

Sugg does little sitting.

In just the past couple of years he's jumped from airplanes -- as in plural.

He's also tried his hand at hang-gliding. And he's not about to stop now.




Sugg plans to take to the skies at Skydive DeLand on Saturday, May 25. The 98-year-old man, who's losing his hearing and eyesight, will prove once again he is not losing his ability to help local charities raise cash.

This latest jump is to raise money for the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia for feeding and housing homeless families.

Susan Clark is the executive director of the center. She said Sugg was just dropping some kitchen items off when he saw a need.

"Don Sugg is a fundraising machine. He was prepared, again, fully prepared," Clark said. "He had an agenda, he had the plan and he had the heart to begin this fundraising event.”

While Clark appreciates the publicity Sugg's jump brings to her organization, Sugg said he gets even more.

“It picks this old man up," Sugg said. "To think that I've done something so simple that anybody could do, but they don't do it. I feel as if I'm merely paying back a small portion as to what was given to me throughout my life by other people in this country."

Sugg's jump is planned between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

There will be plenty of ways for you to help donate to the Neighborhood Center of West Florida at Skydive DeLand, located at the DeLand Municipal Airport.

Sugg’s Charity: http://www.neighborhoodcenterwv.org/