Angel Flight gets some good local press

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:57:17 -0400, "Gary Drescher"
wrote:

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
My interpretation of his post was that flying for AF is not really a
humanitarian act because we as their pilots *merely* do it as an excuse to
fly and nothing else.

Nope, not 'merely'. Just *largely*. The same amount of effort--and
especially money--directed elsewhere could do far more good. None of which
is to criticize Angel Flight, though; I continue to volunteer for them, and
encourage others to do the same.

I disagree. Given the time and money outlayed, I don't understand
what additional 'good' could be done for these patients AF flights
enable the treatment that gives them a chance to live.

Example: I have flown AF cancer patients to/from Mayo (3 hr flight).
This would have been a 10 hr drive, or a close to 10 hr flight with
connections. Many of the patients are close to bankrupcy because of
their medical conditions.

How else would you propose I redirect ~6hrs of time and ~$400 of
finances to help them?

-Nathan

"Nathan Young" wrote in message
...
I disagree. Given the time and money outlayed, I don't understand
what additional 'good' could be done for these patients AF flights
enable the treatment that gives them a chance to live.

Example: I have flown AF cancer patients to/from Mayo (3 hr flight).
This would have been a 10 hr drive, or a close to 10 hr flight with
connections. Many of the patients are close to bankrupcy because of
their medical conditions.

How else would you propose I redirect ~6hrs of time and ~$400 of
finances to help them?

It's not that the same resources could necessarily be put to better use for
the *same beneficiaries* (although if they're close to bankruptcy, they
might actually benefit more if we stayed at home and just donated to them
what the cost of the flight would have been--including all expenses, plus
the value of our time). Rather, my point is that for the cost of a single
Angel Flight, we could e.g. buy antibiotics for children who would otherwise
die of easily preventable diseases, saving many lives.

Again, Angel Flights do accomplish a great deal of good, and it's not
necessarily unreasonable for us to act from a combination of altruistic and
selfish motivations. I just want to maintain a realistic perspective about
what that combination is.

--Gary