Fun – and planes – were in the air last Saturday as the Pitt Meadows Regional Airport hosted its annual Airport Day celebration.

Thousands of people showed up to enjoy the wide range of attractions set up, which included various aircraft on display, inflatable games, a marketplace, live music, and much more.

While there were many different groups in attendance, one group in particular was there on a fundraising mission.

Hope Air had a booth set up at the far end of the airstrip, where executive director Stephanie Aldridge was on site to speak with attendees about what the charity offers.

“About a million people in British Columbia live in rural and remote areas and when they need to access healthcare, they have a long ways to travel. Anywhere from four to 16 hours, and with our geography in B.C., road conditions can be treacherous, especially in the winter months,” explained Aldridge. 

“So we arrange flights, accommodations, ground transportation at their destination, and provide them with meal vouchers so they don’t have to pay out of pocket for expenses related to accessing our healthcare system.”

Services like theirs have always been necessary, but Aldridge noted that they’ve become in even higher demand in the past year.

“The demand is skyrocketing, a 145 per cent increase in demand,” said Aldridge, adding that Hope Air completed approximately 5,400 flights in 2023.

In order to be able to help even more people, Hope Air embarks on its annual Give Hope Wings expedition, which takes volunteer pilots on a tour of dozens of small communities in order to raise both funds and awareness.

“We still run into people who don’t know about Hope Air and the best way to reach them is by being in these small communities and talking to mayors and councils, and that’s what our pilots have been doing,” said Aldridge.

The expedition took off from Pitt Meadows several weeks ago and ended its tour back at the regional airport just in time to partake in the Airport Day festivities.