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WHO:
Don Sumple
Executive Director, Angel Flight Central
HOME BASE:
Kansas City, MO
by Rebecca Groom Jacobs 1. Can you summarize the mission of Angel Flight Central (AFC)?
Angel Flight Central serves people in need by arranging charitable flights for health care or other humanitarian purposes with the help of volunteer pilots. Angel Flight Central serves 10 states in the mid to upper Midwest. Ninety-
three percent of our flights are medical while the other 7 percent consist of the humanitarian variety. Our humanitarian flights are primarily flying children to special needs summer camps. These children typically have HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease or are burn victims. The camps are free however the parents cannot afford the transportation costs to get their child to and from camp. When needed, Angel Flight Central also flies disaster relief flights.
The organization was formed in 1995 when founder, Jim Stevens, f lew a young boy from his church who was suffering from a heart ailment to a medical facility for lifesaving treatment. The parents were not able to obtain the treatment needed in their home area. The young boy’s mother was so appreciative and gave Jim a huge hug with tears f lowing down her face. Jim was so touched that he said to himself, “I need to do this again.” Twenty-three years later, Angel Flight Central pilots have flown over 26,500 flights and counting.
2. Why is this transportation so beneficial to these patients and their families?
Many AFC passengers would not be able to afford the transportation costs to receive, in many instances, lifesaving treatment. There are many cases where an individual is suffering from a disease such as cancer and it is a 7 to 10-hour car ride to a medical facility, which would be unbearable in his or her condition. Angel Flight Central will fly an individual to treatment as many times as necessary.
A secondary benefit: While the organization provides air transportation to medical facilities, it also enables families to maintain a quality of life that they wouldn’t be able to if they had to pay for airline tickets to reach their treatment facility. They can now use those dollars for the necessities of life such as food, shelter and clothing.
3. What is a typical mission?
The maximum distance for an Angel Flight Central flight is 900 nautical miles (a 3-leg flight). We never ask our pilots to fly more than a 300 nautical mile leg, so each can be home before dark. However, the pilot has the ability to take as many legs as they would like. During AFC’s 2018 fiscal year, the “typical” flight was two
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January 2019
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANGEL FLIGHT CENTRAL