Pilots for Christ marks 30 years with open house

Chad Petri
·2 min read

MONROEVILLE, Ala. (WKRG) — An Alabama charity marks three decades of flying patients where they need to go in a time of need. Pilots for Christ held an open house that brought pilots, patients and their families together.

“Someone knows. Someone that knows that has cancer or is sick and needs to be transported. So I think the word of mouth has spread and our consistency to fly and get our patients there on time and when they need to be there. And also just the prayers that we are able to give them before they leave and during their journey,” said Pilots for Christ Donor Relations Ashley Pharr. The organization arranges flights for patients in need of medical treatment where a car or commercial flight would be too painful or impossible.

“Tremendous help, especially after a major surgery You really you don’t want to drive. You can’t drive,” said a grateful Jerry Bise from Wetumpka, Alabama. Not only does this organization lift up patients, it also takes off a lot of things off the patient’s plates in a very difficult time.

“Number one, when you’re feeling so bad, if you have to go to a regular airport and then fly out, you have to go through TSA and all of that and you’re already feeling at your worst when you travel. If you were to drive, it would have took us literally 14 hours to drive to Jacksonville, Florida, from where we live,” said patient from Missouri Carla Duckworth.

Sunday planes were taking off and people were connecting with stories of challenges and triumphs. Pilots for Christ act as a bridge between where patients need to be and where they want to be.

“You’re not able to be with your family. You’re separated from everybody. And it’s just tremendous that we’re able to go home,” said wife of a cancer patient Johanna Bise. Between 2022 and 2023 they helped arrange more than 13 hundred flights for families with thousands more to come.

Pilots for Christ is supported through donations. For more information on the organization click here.

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