A REGIONAL AIRLINE has been given an award for helping fly people who need medical treatment.
Hope Air, a nation-wide charity that arranges free flights for low-income Canadians to get to healthcare, presented Central Mountain Airlines with its Hope Air Outstanding Philanthropist Award for 2012.
Hope Air’s Mission is to arrange free flights for low-income Canadians to get to specialized medical care that is not available in their local communities.
Central Mountain Airlines has donated almost 1,350 flights over the past decade, said Hope Air I a release.
This year, Central Mountain Air has donated 87 flights.
“Distance and cost are real barriers that affect many Canadians trying to access the care they need. This is particularly true for the residents in many of the communities which Central Mountain Air serves,” says Doug McCrae, President and CEO of Central Mountain Air. “That’s why CMA has been so proud to support Hope Air since 1997.”
“Parents will do whatever they must to get their kids to the care they need when there are serious health concerns,” says Hope Air’s Executive Director Doug Keller-Hobson. “But low-income families have few financial resources to rely on when a health crisis occurs. That’s why Hope Air exists: to ensure that access to specialized care is not impeded by distance and cost.”
The Outstanding Philanthropist Award was presented at the Air Transport Association of Canada’s annual conference, this year held in Vancouver.
Hope Air was founded in 1986, and since then has provided almost 73,000 free flights to get low-income Canadians to specialized healthcare that isn’t available in their home communities.
Hope Air says 30 per cent of its clients would cancel or postpone necessary care if they could not get a free flight.
Hope Air serves all ages, with all illnesses, from all across Canada. Potential clients must demonstrate financial need to qualify.
