When you think of a super hero that flies, Superman comes to mind. But a group of pilots have risen to be heroes without the superhero cap. They are donating their flight services to transport patients who need medical care, but can’t afford to travel by air. The Angel Flight Golf Classic raises the necessary funds to support this cause.

On Monday, September 21, sponsors and players are invited to participate in the second annual Angel Flight Golf Classic at the Redstone Golf Club.

For nearly 20 years and with more than 10,000 missions flown, Angel Flight South Central, located at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), helps to save the lives of many people around the country, make jobs easier for social workers and gives pilots the freedom to fly.

Angel Flight focuses on helping patients that don’t have access to conventional transportation or are too ill to drive or fly commercially. The non profit organization relies completely on volunteer pilots and donations from individuals, foundations, clubs and corporations.

“It’s a chance for me to give back to the community,” says Marc Walsh, Angel Flight volunteer pilot. “It combines my love of flying and helping someone.”

Among Walsh, volunteers include three full time coordinators that match pilots and patients each day, 40 ground transportation volunteers that meet each flight and transport patients to Houston’s medical center free of charge and more than 500 volunteer pilots that donate their time and aircraft expenses.

“Our pilots are true every day heroes. Day in, day out, they bring patients to Houston who would not be able to access the world class medical care available to us here,” says Ryla Bouchier, Angel Flight South Central director. Without free air transportation it would be financially impossible to get treatment. We flew over 3,000 missions last year, and expect to exceed that number this year. It is vital we raise funds to be able to continue to support each mission, and to have the ability to help those in need.”

Their goal is to remove the transportation burden from patients so they can get to specialized medical treatment not available to them locally and focus on getting them well, which is why golf players and sponsors are needed to play in the second annual Angel Flight Golf Classic to raise funds and keep Angel Flight’s doors open.