Wishing you a wonderful 2017, filled with health, happiness, peace and joy!


All of us at Houston Ground Angels want to thank you for all you do for our patients! Your loyalty, and compassion means the world to those we serve.  


Upcoming Events, Mark Your Calendars!

Houston Ground Angels will be having a Volunteer Appreciation Valentine's Party, and details are to come. Right now, it appears it will be on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2017, in the early afternoon.

Saturday, May 13, Houston Ground Angels will be taking a guided Historical Tour through the Houston Ship Channel on one of the Port's tour boats. We will leave the dock at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, May 13, 2017. This tour is extremely interesting !  Feel free to RSVP.

There is also a wonderful Harvest Farmers' Market on Richmond Avenue, that we could visit and shop in July or August on a Saturday afternoon. Also in August, the Theatre District has an open house where visitors choose what they would like to see, such as a theatre production, opera, symphony, etc.,  or spend the day and see more than one production, all without charge. The woman who is in charge of this, her family was once volunteers with Houston Ground Angels before they were not able to drive anymore. With both of these events, we would have a meeting place, but we would not be the only ones attending, so I'd like to get some feedback from what you think? Please let me know if you would be interested in either of these.
 
If interest in these are low, we have a couple of other plans for other activities.

We will also have a Holiday/Christmas Party, and details will come soon, just trying to confirm details at this new, and pretty cool place.
 
Feedback or RSVPs to ladymaitland@msn.com or call 832.752.9645

Houston Ground Angels
Management Review
January 2017
From Tony Castiglie, Vice President & Treasurer
 
Another year is in our rear-view mirror, and for Houston Ground Angels, 2016 was a good year.  
 
With 2,514 Missions run, we achieved our annual goal, all made possible by the 98 volunteers who ran those missions.  We provided services for 1,085 patients and/or companions, with most all being very appreciative to the volunteers who provided transportation for them. 
 
Because of the dedicated effort of the Mission Coordinators, Mary Hutto and Kathy Cardiff, we were able to overcome a lengthy down time problem with the website.   Although we did not have enough volunteers to satisfy all patients' Mission Requests, we had a great core group who were really dedicated.  The leading volunteers who contributed to our success:
 
Top 10 Volunteers - 2016
 
1.      Charles Whitworth       250
2.     Paulette Blackburn      192
3.     Richard Chidlow           167
4.     Charles Gibson              124
5.     Tony Larosa                     94
6.     Kathy Broussard            87
7.     Jerry Cavanaugh            85
8.      Mary Hutto                      80
9.    Bill Barnes                        78
    10.    Ruthanne Bowser          74
 
 
Houston Ground Angels came into existence in 2000 but did not begin its far reaching impact for several years.  It was 2007 when we actually began keeping accurate records and since that time, volunteers have run 20,945 Missions serving 6,560 patients and/or companions.   Quite an accomplishment and something for which we should all be proud.  The career leaders:
 
Top 10 Volunteers - 2007-2016
 
1.       Ruthanne Bowser       911
2.      Charles Whitworth     839
3.      Richard Chidlow          811
4.      Claudia Burch               767
5.      Bill Barnes                     762
6.      Mary Hutto                    619
7.      Paulette Blackburn     614
8.     Charles Gibson              580
9.     Gene Creacy                    512
    10.     Frank Schoener            475
 
Joanne Wallace joined us as a new volunteer during December and resides in Northwest Houston.  Welcome aboard Joanne!
 
To every volunteer, Thank You for being part of this wonderful organization and making it the success that it is.   With a terrific group of dedicated volunteers and hopefully more volunteers coming on this this year, 2017 should be another good year.  Happy New Year!
 
Sincerely,
Tony
join_our_team_sign.jpg
 Brochures Anyone !
 
If  anyone would like brochures to give out or distribute to friends or family, libraries or other places you visit, please let me know and I will send them your way. We hope that 20 volunteers will join us in 2017, which will be four more than in 2016.
It was a Wonderful Holiday/Christmas Party!

We had about 50+ volunteers, spouses and friends attend the Holiday/Christmas Party at Masraff's Restaurant on Post Oak.  The food was divine, as was the company and entertainment. Service was awesome! We had an Elvis Presley impersonator in the group, and he sang us some songs in the true Elvis style, he was really good!

Bill Barnes, our president, also presented our founder, Kathy Broussard, with the baseball bat presented to honor HGA from the Houston Astros.
 
Bill Barnes also showed all the award HGA received from Pilots for Patients.

Thank you to all who joined us, and we hope to see all in 2017 at one of the events!  
 
Here are just a few of the photos, I wish I could post them all!




 

Have a wonderful New Year and hope to see you all soon!
Thank you for all you do!