CHARITY THANK YOUS
December 18, 2003
Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance
P.O.Box 1284
Springfield, OH 45501-1284Dear Mr. Bennett and Mr. Cassar,
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Hospice Angel Flight, I would like to express my deepest thanks and appreciation to the Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance for your very generous donation. There simply aren't words to express the magnitude of our gratitude.
Please read the following thank you letter (I'm quoting) we recently received from one of the families we've assisted.
"Dear Hospice Angel Flight,
I am writing a letter of deep thanks to your wonderful organization and staff for helping me with flight assistance during a medical crisis with my mother. She became very ill for an unknown reason in December 2001. In March she lost all use of her right arm. I flew her to Arizona in April 2002 and took her to the Mayo Clinic. She was diagnosed in two days with rapid progressive Lou Gehrig's disease. We were told she only had months to live. We were all in shock and wanted to be there for our mom. I live in Arizona and my mom lived in Illinois. I desperately wanted to be with my mother but didn't have the money to fly back and forth. I contacted the counseling department at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale and they gave me your number. I called and spoke to Gene (one of your representatives). Each time I called Gene, he was so kind and understanding. I will never forget the ease of my mind and heart that his gentle caring assistance did to help my family and me. My mom died at the young age of 62 on September 24. The time that HospiceAngel Flight helped me fly so I could be with my mom during her hospice care means more to me than words can express. I am forver grateful to you for allowing our family to be together for the last monets of our mother's life."
I could share many situations like this one with you. As a charitable organization, funding for this desperate need becomes challenging. This is an example of what we get to do first hand and we couldn't do it without caring people like you. I personally thank you for the support!Sincerely,
Edward Boyer
Executive Director
Hospice Angel FlightMarch 18, 2003
Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance
P.O. Box 1284
Springfield, Ohio 45501-1284Dear Members of the Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance,
Please allow us to express our gratitude for your generous gift from the LCA Take 5 event held in Toronto. It has been said that, volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. The Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance and its members are what that saying is all about.
Incorporation (federally) of OVERT was completed in 1995 and ended four years of research and development. The agency has a board of directors as well as an operation division made up entirely of volunteers that currently oversees the recruiting, training and equipping of 150 volunteers.
The Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team (OVERT) began service in Durham Region on January 6th, 1996, following the deaths of a number of missing persons dating back more then a decade. The agency specializes in locating persons who have gone missing in urban/sub-urban/rural areas. Since 1996, the agency has primarily been funded through a weekly bingo as well as donations from local business, service clubs and foundations. OVERT is the only agency in Durham Region that is capable of providing a full complement of equipment and personnel for emergency ground search operations.
The type of missing person being sought is typically at extreme risk of serious bodily injury or death. Finding a missing person in a timely fashion is critical if they are going to have a reasonable chance of survival.
The communities presenting issues would be inclusive of but not limited to the forgoing:
§ loss of life or serious bodily injury
§ needless suffering
§ the need to quickly intervene to prevent additional trauma or bodily injury to a person who has been physically/sexually assaulted
§ the trauma, pain and mental anguish experienced by the family, loved ones and friends
§ most emergency calls involve the very young, Alzheimers patients, mentally challenged, and those who wish harm upon themselves
§ the need to quickly intervene and be prepared to deploy for extended periods of time
§ the need for professional, highly trained volunteers who can be depended on to respond for extended periods of time any day or night of the week
§ the capability to conduct a large scale search with little support from the other emergency services (ambulance, fire, police)Your generous gift and time will go a long ways is providing the necessary equipment needed to safely deploy search and rescue volunteers into the field.
The program areas that your generous donation will assist OVERT in include:
§ provide safety equipment for all personnel
§ provide communications equipment for all crews
§ provide a dispatch system capable of coordinating, tracking, and recording all crew movements throughout the search operation
§ provide the search management and mapping software
§ provide the necessary search equipment to conduct night search operations
§ provide the necessary rescue equipment to administer basic life support
§ provide the necessary marine equipment to search waterways
§ provide the necessary equipment to maintain a crime scene
§ ensure the agency is able to respond to an emergency call 365 days a year
§ ensure that a search manager is always on call and ensure that they return an emergency call for assistance within three to five minutes
§ ensure that the agency is able to respond with a minimum of forty personnel within an average of one hour after a call out
§ ensure on average, that all search personnel are equipped, briefed, and deployed within two hours of a call outSuccessful operations depend on a large part to maintaining a high level of preparedness. A common misconception locally is that the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) conduct search and rescue; one reason for this is the close working relationship the OVERT has with the emergency services, including the DRPS. Locally the DRPS are only capable of conducting small, short-term searches. OVERT is the agency that is relied upon to provide large-scale search operations throughout the region.
Successful operations depend largely on having enough trained personnel, properly equipped, and giving them enough time to locate the missing person before they perish. In most cases the best chance for survival that a missing person has is if they are found within six hours or less. Statistically, after six hours the odds increase dramatically that the missing person will be found deceased and what began, as a rescue mission will become a recovery operation.
OVERT Search and Rescue would like to give you our sincere thanks. It was a pleasure working with you and we cannot thank you enough for your incredible generosity. We are currently working with our trainer on locating a new dog and we will update you with his progress and training as soon as we receive him.
Sincerely,
Shane Harbinson
Sharon Johnson
Coordinator
OVERT Search and Rescue
Deputy Coordinator/ Administration
OVERT Search and Rescue
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This page last updated March 18, 2003