Wheels will touch down in Prince George today.
It may sound like a typical occurrence at the Prince George Airport, however, today will see the crew of Give Hope Wings will be arriving in the Northern Capital as their volunteer crew has begun their three-week journey.
The crew will arrive in Prince George following a stop in Quesnel.
“Prince George is very important to Hope Air,” Chief Volunteer Pilot with Give Hope Wings, Dave McElroy told MyPGNow. “Last year, Hope Air arranged just under 12,000 flights across Canada. Interestingly enough, slightly over half of those flights were in British Columbia. The largest hub in Canada was Kelowna, the second largest was Prince George.”
The expedition aims to raise enough funds to provide 1,000 flights for Canadians in financial need who must travel from home for medical care. The money raised will go directly to Hope Air, which is Canada’s only national charity that provides Canadians in financial need with free travel to medical care from home, regardless of their age or medical needs.
The fundraising goal for this year was initially set at $250,000 but has since been increased to $300,000 as efforts already has Give Hope Wings sitting at the $240,000 mark.
Since its inception in 1986. Hope Air has provided more than 140,000 travel arrangements to patients in need.
Give Hope Wings’ trip will see them cover 12,000 kilometres across British Columbia, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and circumnavigating Alaska.
An event scheduled for Prince George has the volunteer pilots and flight crew inviting the community to meet them at the Prince George Airport today (Saturday) at 6:00 p.m. Those in attendance will also get a chance to meet Hope Air patients, including Sara-Marie, who is a single-mother who flew to Vancouver and Kolten for surgery.
“Hope Air provided almost 80 to 100 flights each month out of Prince George Airport, mostly to Vanvoucer but also to Edmonton and other centres,” said McElroy.
The event will be located at Allied Aviation, A-4111 Boeing Road (beside Roseneau Transport).