The organization credited with saving 4,200 people in search of freedom is donating its archive to the University of Miami's Cuban Heritage Collection.
Brothers to the Rescue, an organization made up of volunteer pilots dedicated to the rescue of Cuban rafters, will hand over the donation Thursday at a 6:30 p.m. reception at the school's Otto G. Richter Library. The CHC will honor the organization in commemoration of its gift to the library.
The group was founded in 1991 by Jose Basulto in reaction to the high number of balseros, or Cuban rafters, who risked their lives at sea to leave Cuba for the United States. Brothers to the Rescue operations were discontinued in 1996 when Cuban Air Force jets shot down two of the organization's unarmed planes, killing four volunteers.
The donation to the CHC will include photographs, video recordings, reports and other materials that represent the organization's history.