My Nonprofit Reviews

My name is Kristi. I am have been retired from the Army and not by choice. I was offered the opportunity to go to Oregon for the 2 week service dog handler training and at the end graduate with a service dog. I was so excited but I knew I could not fly and it would take about 14 hours to drive. I decided to do some research to see if I could find an organization who would be able to fly me and my mother/caregiver in a private plane. I found Veterans Airlift Command and sent in my request. Andrew Lourake, the Program Director contacted me for more information and towards the end of the conversation he said that they would be able to help us. He put out the request for any pilots able to work my trip into their schedule. It only took a couple of days and Andrew had me in touch with a pilot that had agreed to take the outbound flight to Oregon and his name was Alberto. Unfortunately he was not able to fly me so he had Lee and Terry fly me instead. They were so amazing and made my mom and me feel at ease. They carried our bags for us and the flight was very smooth. The plane was clean and spacious.
The pilot that accepted the inbound flight was Dale & his wife Terry. They were so kind and made us feel comfortable. This time my service dog, Pongo was with me. They were very sweet to him. Upon landing they took our bags and wited til our ride came.
What do you say to describe people like this? These are people that freely fave their time to help a veteran, someone they have never met, in need. I only wish that there were more people in this world that could see past their own bubble and notice for a split second that they are not the only one living around them. It sure would be a kinder place. Thank you so very much for being that little glimpse of relief during a time of roller coaster moments. Andrew Lourake is one of the most patient, kind, understanding, helpful gentleman I have come across in a very long time. I hope he can continue on the path he is and help as many veterans/military as possible so they too can have that calm for a moment during the storm. Thank you again, Sir.