Houston Ground Angels has some really great men volunteering, more so than any other organization I have known before. So here is to all the Houston Ground Angels' men, Happy Father's Day and thank you for all you do for so many, not just our patients but for the younger generations, your community, church, family and friends!
May you have a wonderful
Father's Day!
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Other June Notable Dates:
Flag Day, June 14th
First Day of Summer, June 21
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Houston Ground Angels
Management Review
June 2018
Tony Castiglie, Vice President & Treasurer
In May of every year, I am reminded that Houston has two seasons, Summer and Not Summer. The weather forecast is for a hot summer but thus far enough rain has kept Houston green. Hopefully, it will continue and with a little luck, we will escape a catastrophic hurricane.
Our volunteers ran 207 Missions during May. With five months down, 68 Volunteers have run 1,028 Missions. Our target for the year remains about 2,500, a bit of an increase over last year.
And now for the leaders:
Top 10 Volunteers – 2018
1.
Sandra Begalke
155
2.
Charles Whitworth 131
3.
David LaFargue
68
3.
Dick Stabell
68
5.
Tony LaRosa
66
6.
Bo Hunter
36
7.
Laurie Galland
35
8.
Derek King
31
9.
Paulette Blackburn
28
10. Charles Gibson
27
As mentioned in previous Newsletters, Angel Flight dissolved their “Ground Crew” last year, a group that provided ground transportation for their air mission patients. We have now been overwhelmed by requests from many Angel Flight’s patients now seeking support from us. We are not keeping up. We had 40 “Unfulfilled Missions” last month, but considerably less that the 85 we had during April. We are doing the best we can but we simply do not have enough volunteers to handle all the requests we have for our services. We are continuing to reach out for more volunteers and also looking at other options.
We were fortunate to add one new volunteer during May. Patti Aldridge resides in The Woodlands & has already run several missions. Welcome aboard Patti!
To every volunteer, “Thank You” for being part of this wonderful organization and making it the success that it is. 2018 should be another good year.
Sincerely,
Tony
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It's Hot Out There!
HOUSTON - The Houston Health Department (HHD) recommends area residents take precautions against heat-related illnesses as temperatures are expected to reach the upper 90s during the next few days.
“The high heat and humidity could result in illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke,” said Dr. Joanne Schulte, HHD’s deputy health authority.
High body temperatures can lead to damage to the brain or other vital organs and even death. Seven people in the Greater Houston area died due to heat-related illnesses during the 2017 summer months.
*Drink plenty of water
*Stay out of the direct sunlight as much as possible
*Wear light colored clothing
*And if it is too hot for us, it is too hot for our pets. Make sure they have plenty of water, and a way to get out of the heat.
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From Our President, John Jacobi
Insurance
I am extremely pleased to report that since Houston Ground Angels (HGA) began providing transportation to medical patients from outside the greater Houston area in 2005, we have not had a single reported traffic accident or insurance claim. However, last year one of our volunteer drivers checked with their personal auto insurance carrier and reported that their insurance company considered the services provided by HGA drivers to be "transportation for compensation or hire" and not covered by their personal auto policy. Out of an abundance of caution, HGA invested (after extensive shopping) approximately $26,000 for a one-year insurance policy to cover HGA volunteer drivers in the event of a traffic accident to allow the Board of Directors to study the issue further.
Baker Botts (a prominent Houston law firm) provided
pro bono
(free) legal advice (thank you Baker Botts!!). There are lots of legal technicalities, but the primary issue relates to the fact that any transportation by HGA volunteers cannot be for "compensation or hire" because coverage for commercial drivers (i.e., drivers that get paid for driving) is typically excluded from personal auto insurance policies. A second issue relates to interpretation of the
legalese in each individual policy. Some insurance companies assert that coverage for the transportation provided by HGA volunteer drivers is excluded by language in the policy others though report drivers for HGA are covered under their personal auto insurance. Therefore, it is important for you to check with your insurance company on your individual policy.
HGA has been unable to secure the funding necessary to renew the additional coverage and has not done so. What does this mean to you as a volunteer driver? If you have an accident while on an HGA mission, as always, it is your personal auto insurance that provides coverage.
Please let me, or any member of the Board, know if you have any questions.
Thank YOU for the wonderful services YOU provide!!
John Jacobi
President, Houston Ground Angels
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Please visit the website
to see if there is a Mission
that fits your schedule!
Our patients are counting on us!
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Matched Funds, Please
Volunteers, if you are employed, please check with your employer to see if they provide matched funds for volunteer hours. If you are retired, please check with your past-employer as many companies do provided matched funds for hours when their retired folks volunteer with a non-profit. Recently, we have received a couple of checks (for a couple of hundred dollars) from oil companies, due to their retired and employees volunteering with us. These dollars add up and help cover expenses.
Houston Ground Angels has four paid administration staff, that keeps this organization functioning, and moving forward.
So please take a moment and check with your past-employer or present employer regarding matched funds for volunteer hours.
Thank you for considering this!
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Thank you to all of our Volunteers and for all You do for our Patients! Have a great month and hope to see you soon at the next happening that 's coming soon!
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