Angel Flight East soaring into its 25th anniversary

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Flights with Angel Flight East offer air transportation to children and adults in need of medical treatment that is far from home. (Image courtesy Angel Flight East)

By Jill Beckel

Jess Ames has been the Programs & Events Coordinator for Angel Flight East for the last three years. She is most moved by seeing people who have gone from having cancer to becoming cancer-free with the help of Angel Flight East getting them to the best places that they need to be for treatment.

Angel Flight East is truly an angel for those who need it most. The non-profit organization located in Blue Bell, currently has about 350 active volunteer pilots who use their own airplanes and fuel to help people travel to where they need to for medical reasons. Many of the volunteer pilots are active flyers who simply love flying and rearrange their schedules just to be able to help people.

Flights with Angel Flight East offer air transportation to children and adults in need of medical treatment that is far from home. The flights are always free and are most used as transportation for people who are not able to fly on commercial airlines either because of health or financial reasons. Operating throughout the whole year, the volunteer pilots fly people all across the U.S. within 14 states from Virginia to Ohio to Maine. The trips require just five to seven days of advance notice for scheduling.

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To fly, a passenger needs:

  • To be able to board the aircraft themselves.
  • To fill out a medical approval form from their doctor saying that it is safe for them to fly in a small non-pressurized aircraft.
  • A verification form that the person is so sick that they cannot ride commercial flights.
  • To bring no more than 40 pounds of luggage with them on the plane.
  • To sign a photo release form (optional).
  • To have a back-up plan in case the flight has to be rescheduled for some reason.

On average, Angel Flight East schedules 850 flights a year and helps 150 families. One woman flew 200 times within the same year! There is no limit to the amount of flights needed by one person. It closes the gap from no care to having care even when most hospitals have said that there is nothing else that they can do for a patient. If someone needs to travel outside of Angel Flight East’s range, they will link up to other volunteer pilot organizations that can help.

Lots of patients first find Angel Flight East via social media and mom blogs. They host two major events a year: the annual On Angels’ Wings Gala in April and Wings in Wheels event in September to help get the word out and raise money to continue on with their mission.

The 10th Annual On Angels’ Wings Gala will celebrate Angel Flight East’s 25th Anniversary. The gala will be held on Saturday, April 28th at 6:00pm with all proceeds from tickets directly benefiting Angel Flight East. Tickets are available to the public and the event will be located in an airplane hangar at Wings Field on 1501 Narcissa Road in Blue Bell, PA. The emcee for the night will be NBC 10’s meteorologist Tammie Souza. You don’t want to miss this unique event!

Tickets are available by calling the office at (215) 358-1900 or purchasing via their website (http://angelflighteast.org/). Tickets are $150 a person and include an open bar, dinner, silent and live auction.

If you’d like to donate to Angel Flight East, please visit their website or Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/AngelFlightEast/

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