Sales Of Pendants, Ornaments, Teddy Bears Help Support Volunteers' Efforts 

Angel Flight(R) Southeast (AFSE), a nonprofit charity that has coordinated nearly 3,500 free medical and humanitarian flights in 2005 alone, is offering a variety of gifts appropriate for holiday giving. These include a limited-edition, three-dimensional gold-plated ornament, a custom-designed pearl pendant by Lake County artist Marie Len, aviator teddy bears, angel bears and logo clothing, including a t-shirt remembering the victims and volunteers of Hurricane Katrina.

People may also "Adopt An Angel Flight" for a needy person or family.

"As was noted in hundreds of news stories in both national and regional publications and broadcasts, Angel Flight Southeast, along with its dedicated sister AFA organizations, responded in an unprecedented way to the needs of thousands of our fellow Americans along the U.S. gulf coast after one of the most devastating hurricanes in decades," said Deborah Deal, president and CEO of Angel Flight Southeast (AFSE).

Available for purchase on the Angel Flight Southeast web site, these unique products -- many created exclusively for the Southeast region of the Angel Flight(R) America (AFA) network -- range from $10 to $40. Proceeds from sales of these items will go toward supporting the continuing mission of Angel Flight to remove the cost of air transportation as an obstacle to medical and humanitarian care for our fellow American citizens.

"Every holiday gift purchased will provide our dedicated staff, volunteer private pilots and 'Earth Angels' (ground volunteers) with the additional resources they require to fulfill the record-breaking needs for distant specialized medical treatment and for other humanitarian missions that Angel Flight Southeast has been called to provide," said Deal.

AFSE, a 501(c)(3) organization, helps thousands of people every year by recruiting highly qualified private pilots -- more than 1,000 in AFSE's five-state region alone -- to fly those with health problems to medical centers that can provide the special care their situation requires. Most of the people that AFSE coordinates missions for cannot afford a commercial airline ticket, or have a medical condition that is better accommodated with a private flight.

As the organization recently demonstrated in its hurricane relief efforts, AFSE also coordinates missions to fly disaster relief personnel and victims -- as well as organ transplant candidates; people involved in clinical trials, chemotherapy or other repetitive treatment; victims of abuse seeking relocation; those receiving help from Ronald McDonald(R) Houses, Shriners Hospitals and many other charities; disabled or sick children to special summer camp programs; and for many other humanitarian reasons.

FMI: www.angelflightse.org