Things are still moving along!

We have a bank account, our Tax Exempt 501(c)(3) application is with the IRS and we had our second quarterly Board of Directors meeting tonight. That isn’t the reason we wanted to post tonight though. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It seems like the perfect time to share the inspiration for the second half or our organization’s name.

When our founder, Mike, was thinking of names, he was easily inspired to “Eagle’s Wings” as a name, but he felt the name wasn’t complete. One night Mike woke up thinking about an amazing, intelligent, young lady named Hope Fuller. Hope is the daughter of family friends from his church. Her Grandmother and Mike’s Grandmother were also childhood friends. Hope’s attitude and smile infected all who met her. Hope’s big heart and huge personality lit up the room when she entered. In addition to her wonderful personality, she had the gift of music and acting.

On July 29, 2009, Hope was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). Unlike Mike’s brain tumor which was easily operable, Hope’s tumor was a brain stem tumor that has no treatment or cure. 300 children per year in the US are diagnosed with this disease. It is 100% fatal. Hope fought the tumor bravely and inspired all with her attitude for 224 days. She lost that battle on March 10, 2010 and went home to heaven.

Hope was blessed to live near Chicago Children’s Hospital with its state of the art facilities and wonderful staff. This allowed Hope to spend most of her battle at home with only a short drive into the city for appointments.

Not everyone is blessed to have a facility like that so close to home. This is what drives our team to make our vision real.

We strive to raise the funds to purchase an executive class aircraft and provide free aerial transport to medical treatment for those that need it alongside many other wonderful organizations who do the same.

We pray we can honor Hope and her life by helping others fight their battle and receive quality medical care when it seems out of reach. Hope’s memory and fighting spirit inspires us to make this dream real and drives us be God’s instrument in answering the prayers of others.