Angel Flight West

Once a year I get to help an exceptional non-profit with their end of year fundraising efforts.  It's usually around #GivingTuesday (December 2nd folks so mark your calendars!) and it's the time of year when most charitable organizations go into high marketing gear - competition for those financial donations is fierce (it'd make a great movie - are you listening @amyschumer)

So what makes Angel Flight West so exceptional?  They quietly provide free flights for people in need of medical treatment.  Unfortunately, they're a bit of a secret - but not because they want to be, because their entire raison d'etre is so altruistic most of their volunteers are too humble to tell people what they do - so let me! Pilots share with other pilots, as they want to encourage more enlisters, but they don't toot their own horn with the public at large.

Angel Flight West is a grass roots, volunteer driven, non-profit established in 1986.  They're based at the Santa Monica Airport and they work with a growing list of private pilots (currently 1400+) and ground staff all of whom volunteer their time and airplanes to fly sick patients to treatment they otherwise couldn't afford, or access.  Angel Flight West operates in 13 of the western states: Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and Utah.  

Currently a third of their patients are children, and the Indiegogo campaign I'm helping them with now, is to enable them to fly more children to health in 2016. Last year we raced past our goal, ending at $58,000 to help so many more children than we'd even planned to!  This year we hope will be no different.  Listing really impressive perks (1st class r/t vacation to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines and a private condo anyone?  Spend a day on set with a director, have your movie pitch critiqued by an Oscar nominated screenwriter?  Or would a luxury watch at 2/3 of the retail price be more your speed?) all to encourage donations, and all tax-deductible!  Certainly enough choices to stock up the Holiday gift basket!  But never forgetting the real reason why we do it - to help kids like Macy (pictured below,) fly to the life-saving treatments they need.

For much more on Angel Flight West and to meet some of their patients, please visit our @Indiegogo campaign page: https://igg.me/at/AFW2015