DISASTER RELIEF

Responding to human suffering

AIRLINE AMBASSADORS jumped into action when the devastating 8.8 earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, considered the worst humanitarian disaster in history. Thanks to our partnership with US Army Southern Command, we were able to clear airplanes into PAP airport before commercial carriers could land. Our first airplane was filled with 10,000 MREs (meals ready to eat), medicine and 32 emergency medical personnel. AAI mobilized 16 more airplanes thanks to donations from United Airlines, Belinda Stronach Foundation and Yele Haiti. Those planes transported 3 million lbs of food, water and medical supplies directly to those in need. With the help of US SouthCom, 82nd Airborne and the Haitian National Police we hand-delivered disaster assistance directly to children and families in refugee camps around the country. ProcuServe and Madray Steel donated pre-fabricated buildings to AAI, which we offered as Safe Houses to increase the capacity of the Bureau for Protection of Minors (a division of the Haitian National Police) for the cause of child protection, as trafficking increased during the disaster situation. This gesture prompted Airline Ambassador International’s first major funding by UNICEF and the establishment of a permanent office in the country. AAI teams continue to visit our projects in Haiti several times each year.

When the tornadoes hit Oklahoma in 2013, AAI jumped in again sending a humanitarian team and two trucks full of disaster relief supplies for families. Tragedies such as these make us keenly aware of our fragility as a human family and of the difference we can make when we turn our compassion for one another into direct action.