Give Hope Wings Heading for Panama
TWO, high performance Canadian home-built aircraft on a charity mission will land at Albrook airport in Panama on Saturday, January 13 for a two- day stop over during a 20,000 mile 60-day Give Hope Wings odyssey that will take them on 50 flights across 20 countries.
The pilots and accompanying sponsors are circumnavigating Central and South America to raise funds for Hope Air, the Canadian charity that provides free flights to disadvantaged people in need of medical care far from home in the world’s second biggest country.
The Give Hope Wings idea originated a year ago when three pilots –one from BC, one from Saskatchewan, and one from Ontario who met on a 6,000 mile Arctic expedition, conceived the idea of integrating their love of flying with the desire to aid a valuable community service
Give Hope Wings is flying high and aims to raise $500,000 for Hope Air which would be enabled to provide 2,000 medical flights
One of its two aircraft, flown by Kelowna Flying Club President Dave McElroy, will take off from Kelowna’s YLW Airport on January 2. The other, piloted by Russ Airey and Harold Fast, will simultaneously take off from Windsor, Ontario. The pilots will meet up in San Diego and fly in formation from there on January 8.. The entire expedition will feature live tracking on the Give Hope Wings website.
Money is being raised through individual or group donations, Corporate Sponsorships, or actually joining Dave McElroy as a Flying Sponsor. Being a pilot is not necessary, but flying sponsors who do fly will be encouraged to take the controls for parts of their routes.
Hope Air is a national charity that arranges free flights for Canadians in financial need who must travel to healthcare far from home. Since its establishment in 1986, Hope Air has arranged more than 111,000 free flights.
For many Canadians, getting to an appointment can mean a drive of over 12 hours each way
You can visit The Give Hope Wings website or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
