CORPORATE ANGEL NETWORK'S
14,000th MISSION MARKS 20th ANNIVERSARY
Growing need for network of corporations to
fly cancer patients to treatment
White Plains, NY 12/22/02
-- Corporate Angel Network, the national organization that transports
cancer patient on corporate business flights, celebrated its 20th
year of service with the completion of its 14,000th mission on December
7. Making the milestone 14,000th flight was Sarah DiNardo, a nine-year-old
leukemia patient from LaGrange, GA, accompanied by her mother, Nancy
Roghmans. The two flew back with BellSouth pilots and executives to
Atlanta, GA, from Teterboro, NJ, near Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, where Sarah is a patient.
Twenty years ago, on December 22, Corporate Angel Network organized
its first flight, transporting an 18-year-old cancer patient home
to Detroit for Christmas from treatment in New York City. From that
day forward, Corporate Angel Network literally soared. One by one,
corporations across America were asked to participate and one by
one, they joined.
Since its inception, Corporate Angel Network has received numerous
awards in recognition of its service to cancer patients, including
the highest volunteer award from the President of the United States,
the Volunteer Action Award. The organization has attracted into
its network 500 corporate participants, 56 of them in the top 100
of the Fortune 500.
Corporate Angel Network began with a shoebox full of three-by-five
index cards containing all its information. Cancer patients had
little access to treatment in their own communities. Today, the
organization uses a secure, networked computer system into which
volunteers enter corporate schedules and patient requests. Moreover,
while cancer treatment is now available in many communities, the
number of patients with rare forms of cancer who need specialized
treatment at distant locations has increased. Although much has
changed over the last 20 years, Corporate Angel Network has maintained
its mission of increasing the ease of travel, reducing its cost,
and maximizing access by cancer patients to specialized care.
The national charity persists in its commitment to increase the
number of patients it transports, says Thomas Robertazzi, executive
director of Corporate Angel Network. "Last year we received
over 5,000 patient requests and were able to arrange approximately
1,200 flights," he stated. "Our goal is to arrange flights
for a greater number of patients in need of air transportation to
receive specialized treatment."
This year Corporate Angel Network boosted its recruitment efforts,
actively seeking new corporations, fractionals and charters as partners.
In May, the organization introduced a new enhancement, the Corporate
Angel
Network e*schedule, a system for flight departments to match empty
seats on their scheduled business flights with cancer patients in
need of transportation to treatment centers nationwide. Especially
helpful to charter and fractional owners, the weekly email notice
is in addition to communication by telephone or fax. Schedulers
may email back if they have a match.
Also this year, Corporate Angel Network's outreach efforts received
a boost from news brochures and full-page ads, which have been appearing
in a variety of trade and consumer publications.
As airline travel continues to be a major concern, business flights
are more valuable than ever to corporations and are of particular
benefit to Corporate Angel Network's patients, most of whom must
protect their weakened immune systems. Says Robertazzi, "These
flights save patients money and get them to and from treatment in
comfort. The support and concern of the corporations that transport
them demonstrate to cancer patients that people really care."
Currently, Corporate Angel Network coordinates the world's largest
fleet-- over 1,500 aircraft. Of the organization's 500 participating
corporations, many are NBAA members.
Based in White Plains, NY, Corporate Angel Network operates out
of offices donated by the Westchester County Airport. A team of
55 part-time volunteers and five paid staff work with patients,
physicians, corporate flight departments and leading treatment centers
to arrange more than 1,200 flights a year. Typically, Corporate
Angel Network schedules 100 flights per month.
As a public charity, Corporate Angel Network is supported entirely
by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.
Major support comes from businesses that own or operate general
aviation aircraft as an aid to the conduct of their business.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeanne Shanin
Phone: (914) 328-1313
jshanin@corpangelnetwork.org
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