In March of 2013, I received a message via Facebook from a high school friend, Sean O’Toole. It said:
“I’m not sure if I can offer much but I noticed how you provide transportation to families with sick children. I work for US Airways and every year we get 12 stand-by tickets for family and friends. They are discounted prices but if I can ever help let me know.”
If you have bought a plane ticket recently, you know how expensive it can be. If you have bought a plane ticket less than 7 days before your date of departure, you know that you might have to take out a small loan to pay for it. And if you have ever looked at changing the date of departure or date of return, you know that it might just be cheaper to throw out your original ticket and start over.
Compass to Care has many families who travel great distances, which require air travel, to get their children cancer treatment. And no, this is not a vacation that is planned 6 months in advance where you can search for a great deal on airfare. Plans are often made just a few days in advance, sometimes the date changes, or in some circumstances the child gets to the hospital and needs to stay longer than expected.
So when I received this message from Sean, my immediate response was:
“I have honestly been praying for someone to help us with flights for our families. It is such a huge financial burden. I would love to talk to you about how we might be able to use these tickets. Thank you so so so much.”
Within a day, Sean had us set up to use as many of his buddy passes as we needed. Not only does it drastically reduce our expenditures on airfare, but it also gives our families the peace of mind that if they need to stay longer, they can fly on a later flight without hassle.
Sean’s generous gift has been a HUGE blessing for our families and for our organization. We are truly thankful for his generous offer. Our donors make a difference in the lives of our children each and every day and today we celebrate Sean as one who is making a difference today!
THANKS SEAN!