Flying for a Great Non-Profit

Mission Requester

Mission Requester

Filing Flight Plan
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Aug 11, 2022
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Mission Requester
Hello there pilots!

I know of a great non-profit organization (Mercy Medical Angels) that provides charitable transportation for cancer patients and sick children needing to get to medical treatments. They are in dire need of volunteer pilots to assist with these important missions, so I am trying to do outreach and see if anyone would be interested in learning more about this great opportunity to help those in need!

Thanks for reading this!
-Mission requester
 
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Anonymous requests for charitable help rouse considerable suspicion. Legitimate charities post their names and websites so they can be researched via sites like Charity Navigator and others.
 
My apologies if I offended anyone I was simply trying to help get the word out and spark some interest. I will remove the post and move along to a friendlier audience.
 
I looked at a couple websites associate with the name he posted. Did not appear scammy to me.
 
Half Fast said:
I'd prefer he edit it and provide details of his charity, if this is legit. Otherwise, I must assume it's a scam.
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agree on the preference. I would prefer to have this person join and possibly be a great participant and contributor here.

This said, I simply find there are people that do what they say, and those that don’t. As a group of pilots, the latter is generally a small minority. Yet here we have one.
 
As a new pilot, please educate me on posts like this.

What is the danger to my license, what is the scam?

Are there POA approved charities like this or are all welcome?
 
FancyG said:
As a new pilot, please educate me on posts like this.

What is the danger to my license, what is the scam?

Are there POA approved charities like this or are all welcome?
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unfortunately you’re coming in late on this. Setup was:

  • new member
  • First post
  • Talks up about some vague charity
  • Doesn’t name it
  • Asks you to reach to him for information of this anonymous “good thing”
  • After getting called out promises to delete out
  • Instead, modifies original post with more info
You’re confused and I get it. You weren’t reading this thread when it was as its worst.
 
Rgbeard said:
unfortunately you’re coming in late on this. Setup was:

  • new member
  • First post
  • Talks up about some vague charity
  • Doesn’t name it
  • Asks you to reach to him for information of this anonymous “good thing”
  • After getting called out promises to delete out
  • Instead, modifies original post with more info
You’re confused and I get it. You weren’t reading this thread when it was as its worst.
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Not trying to be obtuse but as a new pilot I don't understand the danger here.

I gather as an Experimental owner my options to give back to the community through volunteering are even less but I'd certainly volunteer if its legal and my liability is clearly limited.
 
FancyG said:
...but I'd certainly volunteer if its legal and my liability is clearly limited.
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With a legitimate charity, yes, certainly. Many of us on here volunteer and contribute to a number of charities.

The original post gave no way of determining what the charity was or whether it was legitimate.
 
FancyG said:
Not trying to be obtuse but as a new pilot I don't understand the danger here.

I gather as an Experimental owner my options to give back to the community through volunteering are even less but I'd certainly volunteer if its legal and my liability is clearly limited.
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not everyone’s scam-sniffer works the same.

Myself and a few others on here volunteer to fly blood around AZ. Our charity is Flights for Life. They don’t mind experimental planes. Be sure to check before you presume. There’s an Experimental Boeing 737 at my homedrome whose use would be welcomed by several charities, I would think.
 
Rgbeard said:
not everyone’s scam-sniffer works the same.

Myself and a few others on here volunteer to fly blood around AZ. Our charity is Flights for Life. They don’t mind experimental planes. Be sure to check before you presume. There’s an Experimental Boeing 737 at my homedrome whose use would be welcomed by several charities, I would think.
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Half Fast said:
With a legitimate charity, yes, certainly. Many of us on here volunteer and contribute to a number of charities.

The original post gave no way of determining what the charity was or whether it was legitimate.
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I appreciate the comments but I still don't exactly get what y'all are driving at.

Does a legit charity indemnify me from X liability? Does charity work generate a tax write-off?
Can you link a well-done aviation charity site so I can see what a proper charity would look like?

Thanks!
 
Rgbeard said:
Myself and a few others on here volunteer to fly blood around AZ. Our charity is Flights for Life. They don’t mind experimental planes.
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Cool! Would that fall under the heading of conducting medical experiments? :)
 
FancyG said:
I appreciate the comments but I still don't exactly get what y'all are driving at.

Does a legit charity indemnify me from X liability? Does charity work generate a tax write-off?
Can you link a well-done aviation charity site so I can see what a proper charity would look like?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I already cited Flights for Life.
The most popular others that immediately come to mind are the various Angel Flights chapters and Pilots ‘n Paws.
 
FancyG said:
Does a legit charity indemnify me from X liability? Does charity work generate a tax write-off?
Can you link a well-done aviation charity site so I can see what a proper charity would look like?
Click to expand...


Consider:

With some groups, such as Angel Flight, a pilot can accept reimbursement for fuel, and he may have certain other exemptions from regulations. Suppose you flew for a group that later proved not to be a legitimate non-profit and didn't have all their affairs in order but you had accepted reimbursements. You could potentially be busted for multiple violations, including being compensated as a private pilot, and you might put your pilot certificate in jeopardy.

It's just not worth it without knowing everything is legit and above board, with all the proper legal steps taken correctly.
 
Half Fast said:
Cool! Would that fall under the heading of conducting medical experiments? :)
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for some, maybe a thirst-buster?

for our participants in the medical community we get blood in time to hospitals for urgent needs, sometimes transport tissues, and haul back hundreds of pounds of donated blood from drives all around the Southwest.
 
Half Fast said:
Consider:

With some groups, such as Angel Flight, a pilot can accept reimbursement for fuel, and he may have certain other exemptions from regulations. Suppose you flew for a group that later proved not to be a legitimate non-profit and didn't have all their affairs in order but you had accepted reimbursements. You could potentially be busted for multiple violations, including being compensated as a private pilot, and you might put your pilot certificate in jeopardy.

It's just not worth it without knowing everything is legit and above board, with all the proper legal steps taken correctly.
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I should find it harder to believe the FAA would persecute a victim-volunteer of a fraudulent charity.

Thanks for the education, I'm too low-time now. Will revisit charity flying when I get my commercial or 500 hours.
 
FancyG said:
I should find it harder to believe the FAA would persecute a victim-volunteer of a fraudulent charity.

Thanks for the education, I'm too low-time now. Will revisit charity flying when I get my commercial or 500 hours.
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I think a more likely scam would be there is no charity, there are no flights and the anonymous posters are just skimming aviation related boards to find people sympathetic to their “cause” that want to donate money.
 
FancyG said:
I should find it harder to believe the FAA would persecute a victim-volunteer of a fraudulent charity.

Thanks for the education, I'm too low-time now. Will revisit charity flying when I get my commercial or 500 hours.
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You don't need 500 hours for some of them. I did my first one with under 250, maybe even 200 hours - have to check the logbook.
 
FancyG said:
I should find it harder to believe the FAA would persecute a victim-volunteer of a fraudulent charity
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Just last night I was reading about people getting busted for charity flights. I’ll try to remember to post it when I get back home.
 
The named charity gets a 98 score on Charity Navigator.

Perhaps we could be less confrontational and frankly more polite when posts like this are made in the future? It would have been much easier to just ask "which charity" without jumping down his throat. I mean, what do you think this is, the Red Board?
 
bflynn said:
The named charity gets a 98 score on Charity Navigator.

Perhaps we could be less confrontational and frankly more polite when posts like this are made in the future? It would have been much easier to just ask "which charity" without jumping down his throat. I mean, what do you think this is, the Red Board?
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I think beard might have had a few too many cervezas yesterday
 
Salty said:
I agree this seemed an unnecessarily harsh response. Even on the recent thread I’m positive is a scam, I tried to be nice about it.
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I thought I was being nice about it, but I admit I don’t do “nice” very well. If I was overly rude I apologize.

(I’ve been studying for my curmudgeon certification and it makes me grumpy.)
 
Half Fast said:
I thought I was being nice about it, but I admit I don’t do “nice” very well. If I was overly rude I apologize.

(I’ve been studying for my curmudgeon certification and it makes me grumpy.)
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See, even when you try to be nice you get screwed. lol I was trying to be nice to rgbeard and not call him out directly. ;)
 
The other issue is insurance. Example….EAA has policy coverage when we fly Young Eagles. This is in addition to our personal insurance. The Challenge Flight - another very reputable organization, and one that many of our local YE pilots also fly for - does not have additional coverage and depends entirely on the pilot’s policy.
 
eman1200 said:
I think beard might have had a few too many cervezas yesterday
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Salty said:
See, even when you try to be nice you get screwed. lol I was trying to be nice to rgbeard and not call him out directly. ;)
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if I was too rude to a person that joined, to make a first-post with some vague, poorly-written point-agenda, I remain unapologetic. I’m old enough to have replaced false politeness with honesty.
 
Hi Everyone,

I appreciate everyone's feedback, especially those that actually looked into Mercy Medical Angels and came back to attest that it is in fact a great, very respected organization! Those that included maps of the Angel Flight Mid- Atlantic Region are top notch and I thank you. Please be aware I am just a volunteer and new to this forum so if there is a particular format to post in I am clearly not aware. I am trying to get a picture of a current map that will outline the region we are needing assistance in but please feel free to spread the word!
 
Highlighted in neon yellow is the region that we need pilots for. This would be Angel Flight- Mid-Atlantic but anyone willing to help is welcome to look into it. Thanks again for interacting with my post.
 

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I see they’re based in Va Beach. What are the hours / ratings requirements?
 
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