marking the 50,000th flight by Corporate Angel Network.
Meridian, the award-winning private aviation company based at Teterboro Airport, was honored to be part of an historical milestone event last week when the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) celebrated its 50,000th flight on Thursday, April 14, 2016. The empty leg flight, which departed from Meridian Teterboro, was arranged for toddler Baron Yerby and his parents Jonathan and Casey. Baron had been in New York City receiving cancer treatments at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, and the family was traveling back to their home in Georgia.
The empty seat in the Challenger 300 was donated by a longtime Meridian customer. In addition to the Management Team of this customer, the event attracted representatives from CAN, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), and Aviation International News (AIN). A small crew of photographers and videographers were also on-hand to capture the moment.
Peter Fleiss, CAN’s Executive Director Emeritus, had this to say, “We at Corporate Angel Network are very proud to be celebrating the 50,000th flight today. It demonstrates the longevity and value of our mission, and how our organization has grown over the years to positively impact so many people who are facing the difficult challenges of battling cancer. This milestone is also a celebration of our business aviation partners whose participation has made these flights possible.”
Ken Forester, Meridian CEO, was honored that his company could play a role in this event. “The good work that Corporate Angel Network does exemplifies how business aviation gives back to the community. We are very proud of our customers who support this wonderful organization, and I am both excited and humbled that our company was able to celebrate this amazing milestone with our friends at CAN.”
Corporate Angel Network, based at Westchester County Airport, arranges free transportation for cancer patients to specialized treatment by using the empty seats on corporate jets already flying to the desired destinations. Since its first flight in 1981, CAN, a 501(c)(3) organization with Public Charity status, has provided more than 50,000 flights to adults and children whose best treatment options are often thousands of miles from home. Volunteers and a small staff coordinate the medical travel needs of patients with the scheduled flight activity of more than 500 participating corporations (including half the Fortune 100) resulting in 225 or more patient flights each month. For more information on Corporate Angel Network, go to www.corpangelnetwork.org.
Tag: CAN
Meridian, the award-winning private aviation company based at Teterboro Airport, is proud to be part of a new milestone for the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), which flew its 48,000th cancer patient on June 11, 2015. Onboard was 48 year old colon cancer patient James Etherton accompanied by his wife Tammy. A Cessna Citation belonging to Blue Beacon International, Inc., flew them from treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to their home in Mechanicsburg Illinois. Teterboro Airport is a major business aviation airport located only a few miles from New York City.
“Tammy and I would like to express our appreciation to Corporate Angel Network and Blue Beacon for being so generous” said Jim Etherton. “Once a month I need to fly to New York for treatment. The fact that they were able to alleviate the financial burden and stress of flying commercial will never be forgotten”, Etherton continued. “Getting diagnosed with cancer is a life changing experience. The silver lining to that cloud, however, is that we have come to realize how many great people there are out there willing to help in our time of need. It makes me want to beat this that much more so that one day I can do the same for others!”
Blue Beacon International, a CAN participating company since 1992, also flew the Etherton’s to treatment on June 6, 2015. “It was a good feeling to be able to help someone while doing my daily duties” said pilot Bill Breitenbach. “I know Blue Beacon was happy to assist in achieving this impressive milestone and we hope to do even more flights to help meet the next milestone”.
Corporate Angel Network is the only charitable organization in the United States whose sole mission is to help cancer patients access the best possible treatment for their specific type of cancer by arranging free travel to treatment across the country using empty seats on corporate jets. This not only improves the patients’ chances of survival but at the same time, it reduces their emotional stress, physical discomfort and financial burden. For more information about the amazing work they do, please visit their website at https://www.corpangelnetwork.org/
CAN is the designated charity for NBAA, which hosts an annual event that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to support CAN’s humanitarian mission.