For a number of years, proceeds of the Rotary Club of Shady Brook’s annual Pancake Breakfast fundraiser have been donated to John Clough, a volunteer pilot with Angel Flight Northeast.
Angel Flight Northeast’s mission since its first flight in 1996 has remained unchanged – to arrange and provide free air transportation so children and adults may access life-saving medical care that is not readily available to them locally.
Its mission coordinators presently schedule 80-100 flights each week, which now total more than 77,000 flights. As is the case of Clough, its 500-plus Volunteer Pilots donate their time, talent, airplane, fuel and operating expenses and have flown more than 14 million miles, providing patients, their families and traveling companions free air transportation, enabling them to access the specialized medical care they require.
Angel Flight Northeast has never refused anyone in need. Approximately 40 percent of its patients are children suffering from life-threatening cancer, severe burns or crippling diseases. Moreover, they will fly people for as long and as often as they need to travel, with no limit whatsoever to the number of flights they provide.
Augmenting their pilots are more than 200 Earth Angels who greet patients and their families with open arms and transport them to and from their destinations.
The Rotary Club’s annual donations help defray the out-of-pocket costs for Angel Flight’s pilots, with each dollar donated generating, on average, five dollars’ worth of contributed services by Angel Flight Northeast’s dedicated volunteers.
Recently, the Rotary Club of Shady Brook’s commitment to and partnership with Clough and Angel Flight Northeast was further strengthened with the addition of the club’s logo on the side of his plane, recognizing its small part in supporting Angel Flight Northeast’s mission and realizing Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self.
Meeting with Clough at the Smoketown (PA) Airport, past president Dick Newbert was honored to apply the decal with Jerry Redington, chair of the club’s annual Pancake Breakfast, and Irv Perlstein, the club’s fundraising chair. Clough’s future passengers will now see recognition of the Rotary Club of Shady Brook’s support of Angel Flight Northeast as they board and debark from his aircraft.
For more information on the Rotary Club of Shady Brook, P.O. Box 688, Langhorne, visit rotaryclubofshadybrook.com
