Our Story: While working for a hospice organization in the Chicagoland area,
Flying for Hope’s Founder and President Susan A. Worline, M.Ed has seen
first-hand how important it is for families to see their loved ones before they
pass or if a crisis situation arises beyond their control. Unfortunately, in many
cases, some family members cannot travel the long distance to see their loved
ones du
e to financial hardship and/or cost of air fare, car rental, and accommodations. In August of 2012, Susan received a Facebook message from a cousin in the Seattle area mentioning that he had a free round trip ticket from Southwest Airlines. He wanted to know if she could use it because he was out of town and did not want it to go to waste. Several days later, he posted the same message, and Susan was inspired. She called him and recommended that he donate the ticket to a local hospice organization. She explained the great benefit of allowing someone to visit an ailing family member as well as how wonderful such a simple yet powerful gift could be. Weeks later, Susan received a call from the hospice organization thanking her for suggesting the charitable gift. They told her how wonderful it was that a young woman’s life was changed. Her grandmother was in the last days of her life when her granddaughter received the call - that they had a plane ticket to come see her. A young college student, unable to afford to fly, had not seen her grandmother for years. Given this wonderful gift and opportunity, she was able to spend several days with her before she passed. This simple idea led to the vision of Flying For Hope: ideas for bringing hope in a time of urgency and changing lives one flight at a time.
