A cause close to my heart

A quick post about something important...

I mentioned several months ago that my dad was diagnosed with cancer.  And then I never mentioned it again, mostly because I want to respect his privacy, but also because it's still incredibly hard to talk about.  As of now, he's doing wonderfully.  He has had amazing luck with the treatments he's been on, both in terms of effectively clearing the cancer and having relatively few side effects.  All that said, cancer is - quite obviously - a cause near and dear to my heart.

My mom alerted me to the opportunity to vote for a particular charity in a contest going on near them.  The winning charity gets $10,000 to help their cause and the reason for me sharing this all with you is because of Wings Flights of Hope.  Their mission, according to their website:

"The mission of Wings Flights of Hope Inc. is to help people in need of free air transportation for medical and humanitarian purposes. Basically helping anyone, anytime, anyplace. At Wings we do not want transportation to stand in the way of a patient receiving the best possible treatment available. With this purpose in mind, our volunteer pilots enjoy giving the gift of hope to so many passengers, and we are honored to be able to give someone a lift when they are down."

Can you imagine what it would be like to be eligible for a new treatment that is only available in certain parts of the country, but to be told by commercial airlines that you cannot fly due to medical equipment you need with you at all times?  Or because you are too sick to handle the continuously recirculated air inside a commercial plane?  Or even something as simple as the cost of a ticket being out of your price range?  Wings Flights of Hope steps in and flies people for free, wherever they need to go.  My family and I are incredibly lucky that my dad is able to receive the treatment he needs close to home.  But if a time comes when he is not, I am grateful that Wings Flights of Hope will be able to help if we need them.

Please consider following this link to vote for this organization.  Joseph DeMarco is the organization's founder, and once you click on his page (third row down, second from the left), it's pretty easy to submit your vote.
Note: when I did this, I had to go through some Facebook doo-hicky to do it, BUT you can opt out of posting it to your wall, if you so incline.

Thank you to all who will consider voting.  My family and I so very much appreciate it.