The NBAA/Corporate Angel Network (CAN) Soirée, held November 18 at NBAA 2015 in Las Vegas, raised $505,000 for CAN, the organization that coordinates the use of seats on business aircraft flights to transport cancer victims to treatment. CAN is quickly nearing its 50,000th patient transport since it was launched in 1981.
This year’s amount is one third more than the $380,000 raised at the event last year and marks the first time it has surpassed a half million dollars. Most of this increase was attributable to Sandel Avionics, which made a late-entry donation of a $175,000 Avilon flight deck retrofit for the King Air 200; it fetched $100,000 bid during the live auction. Other high-ticket items included a Gogo Biz ATG5000, which went for $145,000; Honda Classic “behind the lines” VIP package, donated by Honda Aircraft ($25,000); and two vacation packages in Zihuatanejo, Mexico ($15,000 each), donated by Jay Mesinger Jet Sales and American Express. Individuals also made more than $70,000 in cash donations during the event.
“The business aviation community has a long history of supporting humanitarian and charitable causes, and more than 500 companies are involved in the life-saving work of CAN,” noted NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “Participation in this year’s soirée is just another way the industry gives back.”
Peter Fleiss, CAN’s executive director, was also thankful for the industry’s support. “Each year business aircraft operators fly more than 2,500 flights taking cancer patients to the best possible treatment for their specific type of cancer,” he said. “We appreciate these contributions, along with all that NBAA and the business aviation community do to ensure that the soirée raises the funds necessary to continue our life-saving work.”