Wings of Hope Young Ambassadors To Support Aviation Service Programs in Haiti, Zambia and Ecuador

By Carmelo Turdo

The Wings of Hope Young Ambassadors held their Vote Event recently to determine which aviation service programs to support based on their 2020 fundraising campaign. Six deserving nominees were offered, and three were selected:

Haiti: Haitian Christian Outreach Air Ambulance Program 

Zambia: FlySpec Reconstructive Surgery Services 

Ecuador: Alas de Socorro Medevac Flights for Indigenous Communities in the Amazon

The Young Ambassadors program "supports international programs of Wings of Hope through social, educational and fundraising events." Each year, the Young Ambassadors interact with the community to raise awareness of the mission of Wings of Hope and host three major fundraising events to benefit programs that directly change and save lives through aviation. In 2020, the Trivia Night, Plane Wash and Taste of Hope events (along with memberships) raised over $29,400 towards funding the programs mentioned above.

This year's Vote Event was hosted by Wings of Hope Director of Programs, Tiffany Nelson, and Program Manager, Majd Jmeian.

Tiffany Nelson, who also serves as the Young Ambassador Liaison, opened the meeting for those attending in person and on-line. An active leader, she works behind the scenes and at each event along with the members to ensure that the Young Ambassadors are successful in their mission. Despite the health crisis over the last year, the Young Ambassadors are still able to fully fund three programs through 2021. 

From its inception, Wings of Hope has worked with locally-based groups to ensure the success of humanitarian aviation programs. The programs nominated at the Vote Event were proposed by service providers already in those communities, and so the operational details are custom designed at the local level rather than using the one-size-fits-all approach. 

"This Partnership Model means that Wings of Hope works with local non-profit organizations that are there in-country," Nelson explained, "and we truly believe that this is the most sustainable way to use the resources. Those local organizations know what the community needs... so the Wings of Hope Young Ambassadors support this model in their fundraising efforts."  

Prior to the vote, Wings of Hope President and CEO, Bret Heinrich, addressed the Young Ambassadors membership. 

"I cannot thank you enough for what you do for Wings of Hope," he said in his opening remarks. "The effort, the time and the heart that you put in to save and change lives is so, so important. Tonight you're going to hear about some amazing work happening all around the world, and you have a hand in making that possible." 

Several presentations were made during the meeting, including updates from the 2020 fundraisers and descriptions of the programs under consideration:

Brian McCamley, Young Ambassadors President, thanked the membership and Wings of Hope leadership for exceeding expectations leading up to the Vote Event.

Steve Tompkin spoke about his experience with Kids Against Hunger in Haiti and promoted the food packing day scheduled in June. 

Wings of Hope Program Manager, Majd Jmeian, reviewed the results of the 2020 Young Ambassador fundraising events and assisted with the vote.

Tiffany Nelson returned to review the 2020 Young Ambassador project nominees.

Following the vote, several Young Ambassadors were recognized with 2020 Service Awards: 

Sofie Chkautovich

Ian Smith

Michael Federer

Majd Jmeian

Axayacatl Guerra

Adam Kruger

Liz Burns

Brian McCamley

Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Wings of Hope has the vision of "Changing and saving lives through the power of aviation." Wings of Hope has a rich history of using aircraft to provide humanitarian aid to communities in remote places where it is most needed. In 1959, various Catholic ministries started providing humanitarian air services in the Turkana region of Kenya. Not unlike Charles Lindbergh's preparations for the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Bishop Joseph Houlihan of Eldoret, Kenya approached St. Louis businessmen Bill Edwards, Joe Fabick, Paul Rodgers and George Haddaway about his need for a new aircraft. They then provided the seed money for the first Cessna U206 used by the newly-minted United Missionary Air Training and Transport. As news of this first successful aircraft service spread, more aircraft were needed. Wings of Hope incorporated in 1967, and has since provided humanitarian and development services around the world through an inter-faith approach to serving the needs of all mankind. Today, Wings of Hope continues to emphasize aviation as the means to achieve their mission and partners with local organizations in the countries served. A complete list of areas served can be found on the Global Programs web page. 

The Wings of Hope facility in St. Louis is impressive - clean, well organized, professional - and contains a mix of aircraft meant for different purposes. Several wear the familiar blue stripes and red cross indicative of the corporate aircraft used for the Medical Relief and Air Transport Program. Other aircraft are being prepared for overseas service. Still others are donated aircraft that will be raffled off or sold to raise funds for future operations.

In the U.S., Wings of Hope continues to provide the Medical Relief and Air Transport (MAT) Program from its base in St. Louis. The program was established in 2003 to provide access to life-saving health care within the Midwest to those who are unable to obtain or sustain transportation to specialty care facilities. This is accomplished using corporately-owned aircraft crewed by volunteer pilots and medical staff. In 2019, 218 patients were served. The MAT program is the largest single program measured by total resources committed.