GTA is donating half-a-million airline miles to help patients get necessary medical treatments off-island. On February 19th, the local telecommunications company made its first of four quarterly installments of 125,000 miles to Ayuda Foundation’s Wings For Life program. Wings For Life assists medically indigent patients by providing roundtrip air transportation via airline tickets purchased with donated frequent flier miles. GTA’s next installment will be on April 16th.
With 500,000 miles, Wings For Life can help with roundtrip air transportation for at least six patients from Guam, easing a tremendous financial burden for their families. “GTA’s generous mileage donation is among the largest received by Ayuda Foundation in a years,” said former Senator Jim Espaldon, Ayuda Foundation’s director of special projects. “The need is great, and this donation is impactful – certainly because it brings real relief for the patients and their families, but also because humanitarian work is essential to a strong community, and this project needs bold leaders like GTA to inspire greater giving.”
“It is important for us to find meaningful ways to give back to our community,” says Eveline Campus, GTA’s Vice President of Marketing. “This means building relationships with local charitable organizations that impact the lives of our people. We look forward to working with Wings For Life this year to help our island with necessary medical travel.”
Ayuda Foundation’s Wings For Life program also has a medical travel assistance program for cancer patients; in this case, relief comes in the form of grant funding (not mileage) from the Guam Cancer Trust Fund. But cancer patients are only a sub-set of Guam patients who must travel overseas for treatment. Guam’s non-cancer medical travel needs are great, and for this, there is the mileage donation program.
“We are so grateful for this wonderful gift from GTA. There are many local indigent patients, with critical, non-cancer related medical needs, that cannot be treated on island due to the lack of appropriate services,” Espaldon explained. “Oftentimes, the cost of airfare is the major obstacle for these patients to get timely and proper medical care off-island. GTA’s donation is truly a blessing to those most in need, in their greatest moment of need. It will save lives and we are very thankful for GTA’s continuous support to our cause and our community.”
About Wings For Life
The Wings For Life Program by Ayuda Foundation offers two services: 1) a mileage donation initiative in partnership with United Airlines to provide air transportation for medically indigent patients who need medical treatment overseas; and 2) the Guam Cancer Assistance Program, which is funded by a grant from the Guam Cancer Trust Fund and helps cancer patients and their caregivers with the cost of air travel for off-island medical care.
About Ayuda Foundation
Ayuda Foundation is a non-profit registered 501(c)3 organization chartered on April 1, 1996 in the Territory of Guam. Our mission is to deliver medical and human services, and developmental assistance throughout the Pacific region. Our primary cause is providing sustainable humanitarian aid to Micronesia through organized medical missions and urgent relief efforts.
