ISTAT News | 10 August 2020

COVID-19 Relief Grant Recipient Spotlight: Angel Flight NE

As we know, the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, but the ripple effects it has had on every aspect of our lives is beyond comprehensible, especially to those who are battling health issues that don’t have time to wait until the pandemic is over.

That is where Angel Flight NE (AFNE) steps in - a nonprofit that coordinates free air transportation for patients to access life-saving medical care outside of their geographic area. This nonprofit also utilizes its aviation resources to assist with compassion and relief efforts during times of crisis.

When the pandemic changed all our lives in early March, AFNE made a strong commitment to continue its mission by focusing on the communities it has served over the past 24+ years by using its general aviation resources. AFNE’s mission coordination team has been working 24x7 to support patients’ urgent requests to travel via air transportation to access ongoing critically needed treatments that cannot wait until the pandemic is over. AFNE has been assisting with ongoing local and federal COVID-19 relief efforts transporting PPE and COVID 19 test kits from remote locations to out-of-state clinics for quicker processing as well as assisting with the delivering of critically-needed goods to Native American tribes that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  

They have also answered compassion requests from parents to transport their family home after being ‘stranded’ at medical facilities during the pandemic and from aging/ill parents who need AFNE’s assistance to be transported to a loved one to care for them or bring a loved one “home” to be cared for during this health crisis. AFNE is also working with other nonprofits like Be The Match to transport life-saving bone marrow donations to the critically-ill along with other critical relief efforts to assist those in need during this international crisis.

With the support of the ISTAT Foundation, Angel Flight NE will be able to provide ongoing COVID-19 relief efforts and ensure that patients have access to critical medical treatment. During these difficult times, the power and overall positive impact that aviation can have is amazing – closing the distances and connecting people in need so they do not feel so alone.

For more information on the inspiring work of Angel Flight NE, please visit http://www.angelflightne.org/.