Volunteer Spotlight

Volunteer Spotlight
Caption: (left to right) Glen Whittaker, Sue Harrison, & Steve Krietemeyer Our volunteers are the lifeblood of Wings of Hope. Whether they are in the hangar working on planes or in the front office managing administrative and financial tasks, we…
MEDICS: Keeping Patients Safe in the Air
Our volunteers are the lifeblood of Wings of Hope. Whether they are in the hangar working on planes or in the front office managing administrative and financial tasks, we depend on them to do mission-critical work that keeps our wings…
Volunteer Spotlight
Our volunteers are the lifeblood of Wings of Hope. Whether they are in the hangar working on planes or in the front office managing administrative and financial tasks, we depend on them to do mission-critical work that keeps our wings…
Dick Horowitz Makes Final Flight as Chief Pilot for Wings of Hope
PHOTO: Dick (center) poses with Wings of Hope President and CEO Bret Heinrich (left) and wife, Patsy (right), after final flight.On Nov. 30, 2020, Dick Horowitz landed his last flight as Wings of Hope Chief Pilot. With a crowd of…
Leslie Cuppett, MAT Pilot
Being Wings of Hope’s only woman pilot seems notable — to just about everyone besides the pilot in question. After all, this isn’t the first time Leslie Cuppett has been the only woman in the room. She was the only…
Gene Pfautsch Receives Distinguished Volunteer Award
The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) has recognized Gene Pfautsch with its Public Benefit Flying Distinguished Volunteer Award. The Public Benefit Flying awards honor volunteer pilots, other volunteers and organizations engaged in flying to help others, as well as those supporting…
Volunteer Hours Add Up!
In January 2019, we started tracking volunteer hours using Volgistics, a volunteer management software tool. Since then, 238 volunteers have tracked their hours, checking in and out of Wings of Hope using a touchscreen monitor every time they volunteer. Year…
Wings of Hope Volunteer is Honored as Ageless Remarkable
Our own Jay Rickmeyer, who has been volunteering in our hangar going on 18 years, was honored on October 20 by the St. Andrew's Charitable Foundation as an Ageless Remarkable St. Louisan. The award recognizes individuals, 75 and older, who…
Wings of Hope Volunteer Receives Order of the Aviator
September 12 was a special day at Wings of Hope. Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Director of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, presented longtime volunteer Ken Christian with the Order of the Aviator, Wings of Hope's highest honor. Ken donated his plane to…
Globetrotting Mechanic
Many thanks to Wings of Hope volunteer Paul Voorhees of Big River Aviation! Paul donated a week of his time and expertise to completing the annual inspection of our airplane in Nicaragua. Thanks to Paul’s hard work, we are all…
Meet Our New CFO!
Wings of Hope welcomes Kelly Vaughn as our new chief financial officer. She replaces John Schmidt, who retired from the position in August after more than a decade of service. Kelly, who originally hails from Pensacola, Fla., has nearly 20…
Del & Annie Reiff in Tanzania
In an organization full of extraordinary volunteers, Del & Annie Reiff stand out. By summer they are Iowa farmers, but when their harvest of corn and soybeans come in each fall, they take off around the world for humanitarian missions…
Frank Almeter
Frank Almeter has a lot of stories to tell. If you ever have time to sit down with this 79-year-old war veteran and longtime Wings of Hope pilot, ask him what first turned him on to flying. He’ll tell you…













