August 26, 2013
Two pilots who have been visiting 44 towns in 17 days as an awareness raiser for Angel Flight will touch down at Kingaroy Airport tomorrow afternoon (August 27).
The keen pilots are University of Queensland language studies professor Mike Levy and his friend Nick Clarke, the former president of the Local Government Managers Association of Queensland.
Every year the LGMA “adopts” a charity to support and for the past couple of years it has been Angel Flight.
However, there is confusion in the community over exactly what Angel Flight does.
Prof Levy explained the air service is not an emergency evacuation service like the Flying Doctor.
Rather, it helps people attend “regular” medical appointments, such as cancer patients who have to visit the city repetitively for treatment.
The pair hope to increase awareness about the service for patients, carers and their families in rural and remote Australia.
Angel Flight pilots donate their time and planes to fly people to medical appointments.
“Angel Flight really does help to keep families together,” Prof Levy said.
He said flying the vast distances in outback Queensland has brought home to him how important the service is.
“When you’re not feeling well, travelling for hours is the last thing you want to do,” he said.
“Many of the patients don’t have enough money to travel and pay for accommodation.”
The pair are flying a tiny Foxbat aircraft which weighs just 600kg. Because of the light payload, they have each been restricted to carrying just 5kg of personal items with them for the trip.
They flew out of Caboolture on August 12, and since then have visited 39 towns.
Kingaroy is No 40 on the itinerary.
Each stop coincides with a centre in a different Local Government area.
And although their focus has been awareness-raising rather than fund-raising, they have still managed to raise more that $25,000 for Angel Flight along the way.
There have been auctions and sausage sizzles, and council staff in the various centres have made donations.
The pair will be presented with a cheque for more than $800 after they land in Kingaroy.
The money has been raised by South Burnett Regional Council staff at morning teas.
“A special mention must also go to the libraries across the region for allocating their book sale money to the cause,” Council spokesperson Sheena Uebergang said.
