Support AFW – Duplicate – [#50304]

Believe it or not, it’s hard to give away a free service. We have to reach out to find people who need medical transportation and let them know that our services are available to them. When they contact us, we screen and vet them to make sure they meet our criteria. In fact, we refer more than 75% of people who call us. Once they are qualified, our mission coordination team secures a medical release from the passenger’s physician, helps find the pilots and coordinates the flights. Providing opportunities for our pilot members and airline partners to give of themselves requires a considerable amount of effort.

Our mission is to improve the health and well being of the people we serve. Many people go without health care that could save their lives or improve their quality of life due to lack of transportation. Research shows that transportation is the second most significant barrier to health care after cost. Your donation allows us to efficiently connect a person in need with an individual or corporate partner who is willing to provide the actual transportation at no cost. On average, the cost of the transportation is 3 times greater than our cost to connect passenger with charitable resource and coordinate the flight. So, your donation is leveraged 3x, and results in access to medical treatment that would not have been possible otherwise. That could mean the difference between life and death, or the difference between being able to work and permanent disability, or preventing more serious illness in the future, or one of many other ways medical treatment can have an enormous impact on someone’s life. Even for those of our passengers who do not survive, our flights give them hope, and a chance, and provide support for their family and caregivers along the way.

All of our passengers are screened and vetted by our mission coordination team. Passengers must provide a reference who can verify their financial need. Our criteria are quite flexible, since we realize that a serious medical condition can create a dire financial strain, even for someone who was previously financially stable. A medical condition or the need for medical treatment can result in loss of employment, require a loved one to reduce work to provide care, and medical bills can strain a family’s finances even with health insurance. Also, since our pilots have direct contact with the passengers (which the coordination staff often does not), we survey the pilots after each flight, asking them specifically how interested they would be in flying this passenger again. We’re proud to say that on a scale of one to five, the average response to this question is 4.78 (as of December, 2014).

Sustainability is a key concern for any non-profit. In addition to a number of funding sources that have remained consistent over the 31-year history, Angel Flight West strives to maintain a six month cash reserve. Angel Flight has also recently invested in new funding sources with long term potential, like the Endeavor Awards, and has launched innovative next generation funding mechanisms like its $50,0000 crowdfunding campaign for Giving Tuesday, 2015.

Our mission is to promote the health and well being of our passengers. We don’t provide health care services, and sadly, not all of our passengers survive their treatment. By providing access to medical treatment, we give our passenger a chance, and we give them hope. For some, it does make the difference between life and death. For some, it means a better quality of life. For everyone, including a passenger’s family, their medical team, and even our pilots, each flight is a testament to our willingness to help each other in a time of need.

We are proud to have earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Angel Flight West always strives to make the best use of the resources provided by our donors, our pilots, and our airline partners. In many cases, our passengers live in rural areas not served by commercial airlines, or cannot fly commercially due to a compromised immune system. We utilize the combination of our pilot’s aircraft, piloting skills and their desire to give back, in combination with the generosity of our airline partners, to provide free transportation in the most efficient and economical way possible.

Our pilots come from all walks of life. Some are certainly in the 1%, but they all share a desire to combine their love of flying with a desire to use their skills and resources to help others.

We survey our passengers after their flight to make sure that they are satisfied with our service, and we follow up with them if they are not satisfied. We are proud to have received consistently high ratings. 

The Endeavor Awards were launched by Angel Flight West in 2014, to celebrate the accomplishments of all charitable aviation, and proceeds support a number of charitable aviation organizations across the county. For more information about the Endeavor Awards, please visit their web site.