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Upcoming Events
Florida Aviation Trades Association (FATA) Annual Conference June 11-13, 2012
Monday June 11, 2012 at 8:30 AM EDT -to- Wednesday June 13, 2012 at 10:30 AM EDT
FATA is a leader in promoting and protecting aviation in Florida. Part of our advocacy is taking the message to the non-aviation community about the positive economic and quality of life effects aviation brings to their community.
Four Seasons Resort, Palm Beach, FL
Mercy Flight Southeast 3-way raffle!
Friday August 31, 2012 from 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM EDT
Mercy Flight Southeast is holding a special raffle to help raise money for our life-saving mission of coordinating free air transportation for children and adults with medical or compelling humanitarian needs. The funds make sure the "lights stay on" to answer phone calls 24 hours, 7 days per week; even when calls come in the middle of the night!
Mercy Flight Southeast Headquarters
Angel Flight Annual Leesburg Golf Tournament & Pairing Party November 11, 12, 2012
Sunday November 11, 2012 at 7:30 PM EST -to- Monday November 12, 2012 at 4:00 PM EST
Join us at Beautiful Arlington Ridge Golf Club for a dinner and "pairing party" the evening of Sunday November 11, then on Monday, November 12 (Veteran's Day) a great round of golf including a putting contest, full breakfast, lunch and more! Register soon for early-bird discounts. It's easy to pay with your credit card using PayPal
Arlington Ridge Golf Club Leesburg, Florida
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Pilot tele-forum
For feedback, suggestions
and questions answered regarding missions
First Tuesday every month at 7pm
Next forum is July 3rd
(712) 432-0080
949489# via join.me
These have been really well-received! Please send future agenda items to steve.purello@mercymail.org
Wings
Region-wide Wing meeting for Wing Leaders and interested parties:
2nd Tuesday of every month 7pm (712) 432-0080
Next one June 12
949489# via join.me
This will be for our wings to
be able to share best practices and learn how we can do a better job with local outreach and fundraising in our communities.
For more information on our monthly meetings, call the office at
(352) 326-0761
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Nathaniel's Hope
Thousands turned out for a beautiful day at Orlando's Lake Eola Park. Special needs children from all over Central Florida got to enjoy games, food, fun and hope.
Nathaniel's Hope walk
Nathaniel's Hope volunteers Michelle and Shirley-Ann
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Vote for us! 20 seconds could equal $10,000!
This year we are listed as our National affiliation "Air Charity Network"
Your Vote Counts! Click to Vote. | |
150th Mission!
Written by Co-pilot Chuck Cobb |
Burke County Pilot Flies 150th Mercy Mission
The mission on Sunday May 6, 2012 was a relay flight from Foothills Regional in Morganton, to Florence, SC to pick up Mr. & Mrs. Levern Ard and transport them to Lewisburg, West Virginia where another pilot waited to fly them to Cleveland, Ohio so that Mr. Ard could receive special medical care.
It was a milestone event in the life of Dr. Vader Shelton, a native of Marshall, NC and a longtime resident of Burke County.
He is a graduate of Berea College in Kentucky, with an undergraduate degree in biology. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate in dentistry from prestigious Emory University in Atlanta Georgia and as had a successful practice in and around Burke County for well over a quarter century.
Some forty years ago, Dr. Shelton developed a passion for flying, and son realized his aircraft and flying skill could benefit those less fortunate than he, so he volunteered his services to an organization called AirLifeLine a group of pilots, who at their own expense provided a plane and pilot service to aid those in need of transport to and from a medical care facility.
Several years later, he transferred to another group doing the same type of work. The flights are referred to as "Angel Flight", and are truly deserving of the name. More often than not, the passengers on these missions would be a young mother and small child enrooted to a Shriner's hospital where all children are welcome and treatment is free.
I have flown co-pilot on many of these trips, and quite often when I turned to check on the passengers, I would see a weary mother sleeping and a small child holding a teddy bear and smiling at me. How these could not be called "Angel Flights?"
That flight today was relatively short, unlike others that covered hundreds of miles and required long hours in the cockpit much of it in inclement weather. This type of flying for so many years and so many missions requires a great deal of dedication and sacrifice by pilots like Shelton.
He will readily admit that it is not always fun, but will tell anyone that there is an ultimate reward. It is the look of gratitude in a mother's eyes, her heartfelt thanks for help she otherwise would not be able to afford, and an occasional hug from a three year old girl holding a teddy bear.
When asked about the reason for all the years, and all the missions flown, Dr Shelton replied, "I have been blessed in my life and career, and I felt the need to give something back."
One has to believe that scores of his former passengers would agree that in a very humane way, he has given back much to many
Chuck Cobb
Martha, Lavern & Dr. Shelton
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Pilot spotlight
These are the very special pilots that volunteered to take one or more of our many weekly missions
Warren Cheatham x2
George Robbins
Daniel Skoda
Marc Miller
Lee Sewell
Dr Roode
David Taisch
Michael Dean
John Thomas
Rodger Knox
Fred Weaver x2
David Walker x2
Jim Jordan
52 mission legs were coordinated 6/2 - 6/8
Here are some pictures of Quincy from our flight yesterday. He is a charming and happy kid handling his disability with grace and dignity. Charles George, Pilot
Quincy has been flying with us since June 2005 when he was 2 1/2 years old. Quincy suffered burns over 80% of his body is traveling to Shriners Hospital for hand reconstruction. Quincy and his family were in a trailer fire; Dad was burned, Mom and oldest brother OK; middle sibling perished. The sleeping Quincy speaks to me of the trust our passengers have in us. It makes the time and expense worthwhile.
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Camp Immokalee drawing
Camp Immokalee thank you
Note from the editor to our pilots: Please take more photos so I can put them up here!
Pilots: Please send your photos via your smart-phones to: info@mercymail.org. We'll get them posted on our social networks so we get some additional PR.
Thank you for all of your time and energy.
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| 6 Hours of free training! | |
Jim Hendricks of Naples Flight Simulator Center has a very special offer for Angel Flight pilots:
LIMTED TO ONE ANGEL FLIGHT PILOT PER MONTH
Jim would like to offer 6 hours of dual instruction in either a simulator or ground school
Use those hours for your next IPC, BFR, towards a new rating, or any other skills training you'd like; no strings attached.
Thanks very much to Jim for this very generous offer!
To qualify, we'll be doing a drawing of any pilot who has volunteered for a mission in the month of June. The drawing will take place July 5, 2012 and be announced in the weekly update.
This is a brand-new program, and based upon feedback we receive, we may be expanding it. Please let us know what you think.
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| Try AeroCapital | |
We have a very special offer to help Angel Flight Southeast do some creative fundraising and save our pilot/aircraft owners some of the expense of flying. Johnny Pineyro, one of our board members, has participated and is saving over $600 per month as a result of this partnership with Aero Capital.
(This link makes the flyer full-size)
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| Volunteer opportunities: | |
A Tuesday in June or July at 12:00 at the Newnan Country Club Newnan, GA (Speaker needed)
June 12 - Palm Beach, FL. FATA Annual Conference. 8:10 am - 9:30 am (Booth help)
June 15 Work-at-home Children and Families Awards 2012. Take this opportunity to gather reviews from our clients, volunteers and donors. Our reviews will be visible to over 2 million donors on GreatNonprofits.org, and syndicated to GuideStar, CharityNavigator, GlobalGiving, and JustGive.The Alliance for Children and Families has also partnered with us for the awards.
The awards will identify top-rated nonprofits working to support children and families. If our nonprofit has at least 10 positive reviews (4 or 5 stars) by June 30, 2012, you will receive exposure to potential donors and supporters via the GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Children and Families Nonprofits List. (Award application writer needed)
Sep 8 - Jacksonville, FL. Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG). Wings 'n' Wheels 2012 (Booth help)
Any Wednesday at 7am in August Zephyrhills Rotary First United Methodist Church. Breakfast included (Speaker needed)
Nov 9 - 11 - Stuart Air Show, FL. Witham Field (KSUA). Stuart Air Show. Nov.9-11 (Booth help)
Oct 20 - Dallas (Atlanta), GA. Paulding Northwest Atlanta (PUJ) (Booth help, have one, need another!)
Nov 11, 12 - Leesburg, FL. Arlington Ridge Golf Course. (We have 8-12 so far, but need about 30!)
If you can help with any of these events, please email to info@mercymail.org, or call (352) 326-0761 x1500 (have nine, need more!) | |
| We need some assistance! | |
The summer months tend to be especially lean for fundraising, and we are hard at work trying to find creative ways to raise much needed funds in this environment.
Here are some ways you can help, if you can't write a check yourself:
- Do you know any Foundations you can recommend to us?
- Do you know anyone who would be willing to put our org in their will?
- Do you work for a company that does planned giving, such as payroll deductions?
- Want to give monthly automatically? We can handle that!
- Want to donate a car, boat or airplane? We can handle that too!
Any leads are greatly appreciated! Please call the office at (352) 326-0761 x1500 | |
Boy Scouts Troop 154 visit HQ
and Leesburg Tower tour
About 40 people visited and toured the Leesburg Tower and our Headquarters in Leesburg. We're happy to spread the word and inspire some young aspiring pilots to become Angel Flight heroes in the future. Six Scouts were chosen for a local flight with an Angel Flight Pilot.
Group 4 for the Boy Scouts Tower visit
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Boy Scout Troop 154 at Angel Flight Southeast HQ
Artwork from a Scout (Gavin)
Artwork from a Scout (Ben)
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