Back On Board with Angel Flight

Before we began our grand healing adventure here in Texas, Kara and I volunteered with a service organization called Angel Flight, which provides non-emergency medical transportation in private aircraft.

I was the Utah wing Webmaster for a while, and later served as the Utah Wing Leader. Kara came on board as Mission Coordinator, helping to pair patients with pilots. We also both had the chance to fly as Mission Assistants and help at airshows and other events. It was a lot of fun, and we both really enjoyed it.

For a quite a while, Kara was able to do her Mission Coordination work from here in Texas, but eventually she became too sick and had to quit. Once the rest of us moved, I had to step down as Wing Leader. Dropping out of Angel Flight was one of the hardest parts of this whole move.

With Kara feeling so much better, we have decided to jump back into the group. Beginning the end of July, we will be working together as Mission Coordinators for the Utah Wing. We are both very excited to be working with our friends again in this great organization.

Angel Flight has been a big blessing to us in our lives, giving us both an opportunity to serve and providing service to us. As Kara's health deteriorated, she was flown by Angel Flight between Salt Lake and Dallas several times. The pilots all volunteered their time and the entire cost of the flights.

We are both very excited to be in a position to give back, if only just a little of our time.

If any of my faithful Utah readers are interested in helping out with Angel Flight, the wing is in need of volunteers for a number of non-pilot positions - especially in community and hospital outreach, and event planning. (I'm sure the wings in other states could use some helpers, too.)

The organization has been around for more than 25 years, yet many people who could benefit from the service the pilots provide still don't know about it. To paraphrase one of the leaders, "It's amazing how hard it is to give away a free service like this."

You can learn more about Angel Flight here. The Utah Wing's web site is here.

Comments

Tristi Pinkston said…
What an awesome organization!
6/27/08, 6:40 PM
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