Newsletter March 2021

Board of Directors Meeting | 2021

Wings Foundation held its virtual annual Board of Directors meeting on February 24th, 2021 via Zoom! It was a great turnout, with more than 40 volunteers participating. Special guests joined us, including Patti Baskin-Palmer (co-founder of Wings Foundation), the Barclays team, and the Vice-President of Flight Service, Brady Barnes. Topics discussed were the annual budget, base reports, voting, advisory director reports, and much, much more. We hope to have our next annual meeting in person, but find Zoom to be a great fallback!

Wings would like to thank all those who joined and made this very important meeting such a success.

Base Spotlight | Miami

Wings Foundation-Miami will continue to be in the crew room alongside Barclay’s Aviator MasterCard representatives on a monthly basis. We’re very grateful for their support and especially YOURS! Also, please welcome Miami's newest volunteer Jonathan Reinoso! Let’s continue to grow Wings Foundation in MIA, and be a resource for our flight attendants in financial need!

Wings Foundation is incredibly grateful to Kim Putman and the volunteers in Miami for always being a driving force behind our continued success.

Featured Story | All for a "Mom in a Million"

Brittainy Thomas is on a mission for her “Mom In A Million.” Many of you based in ORD or DFW may remember flying with Brittainy’s mother, Jean Ann Hockaday. On August 4, 2020, Jean Ann lost a brave battle with a very rare autoimmune disease, Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS). With only 400 known cases in the U.S. and one in a million worldwide, this disease attacks the connection between nerves and muscles, interfering with normal muscle contractions and causing extreme muscle weakness. In Jean Ann’s case, it led to near-paralysis in her legs. Despite these and other worsening symptoms which began in October 2019, she was ultimately diagnosed with both small and non-small cell lung cancer.

After months of medical tests and scans, doctors failed to “connect the dots” with small cell lung cancer, which in many cases is tied to LEMS. She was given a regimen of chemotherapy which was ultimately unnecessary and contributed to hastening her physical deterioration.

Jean Ann’s battle lasted for more than nine months, most of it was bedridden. With proper and early diagnosis, LEMS symptoms can be managed by a clinician -- sometimes quite successfully. Unfortunately, in her case it was too late ... but she was able to spend one last Thanksgiving with her family, having been carried to her seat in this photo.

Son J.C. (standing), daughter Brittainy (right), granddaughter Kinzlee, Jean Ann, grandson Kaemon and son-in-law Kevin in November 2019.

Jean Ann was likely aware of Wings Foundation having begun her American Airlines flight attendant career in 1992, but she never applied for health assistance. Brittainy learned of Wings through a kind note of sympathy sent to her by Wings’ Treasurer, Roberto Jimenez-Curiel, who happened to see a bereavement notice for Jean Ann in the DFW crew room. Brittainy then sent a note of gratitude to Wings, and is now actively connecting this organization to her educational work with LEMS. She has generated donations to Wings and makes use of PayPal and Amazon for additional support.

Brittainy’s 8-year old daughter, Kinzlee, has added LEMS and Wings Foundation to her platform as she competes successfully in the world of pageants, currently holding the title of “Texas Our Little Miss.” She will use the monetary awards she receives to help fund her college education, much as her own mother has done. “Sugar” (as Jean Ann’s family knew her) would be justifiably proud of her granddaughter -- And who knows? Perhaps Kinzlee will be a future flight attendant!

Brittainy has created a dedicated website and Facebook page to remember her mother's battle, and says, “I will not stop advocating for flight attendants who put their lives on the line every day in order to save others. The flight attendants who are single mothers that struggle with being away from their kids, but do what they have to do in order to support them. The flight attendants who want more for their kids and for them to see the world. The flight attendants who get sick out of nowhere and the next week can't walk. The flight attendants who get misdiagnosed. This is all for her. Her legacy, her dreams, her hopes, and the love for her job.”

For more information on LEMS or to remember her mother Jean Ann, you may contact Brittainy here.

Check out the latest RoadShow dates to see how you can take part in the "Spread Your Wings" promotion benefitting the Wings Foundation.

The Kiwi Club has supported the Wings Foundation as its National Endeavor since 1996, donating more than $600,000 to Wings over the years. We are honored by the dedication of the Kiwis for including Wings in their charitable ventures, which are many.

This is a social and charitable organization for former and current American Airlines and American Eagle/Envoy Flight Attendants, including those flight attendants from airlines acquired by or merged with American Airlines.

To join a chapter near you, click here!

Thank You

Thanks to generous donors like you, Wings Foundation, Inc. is able to continue to offer financial assistance to American Airlines Flight Attendants in critical need of financial assistance due to injury, illness, or disability; or who have sustained damage or destruction to their primary residence due to a catastrophic event or natural disaster. Individual financial grants are administered after a completed and approved application for basic housing, insurance, medicine, utilities, and food to American Airlines Flight Attendants (active or furloughed) on the system seniority list.

Click here to view video instructions on how to set up your payroll deduction since the change over to the new AA payroll platform.

Keep Up With Us!

Copyright © 2021, Wings Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.wingsfoundation.com

Our mailing address is:
P.O. Box 610563
DFW Airport, TX 75261-0563
Or call: (817)571-7083
Email: wings@wingsfoundation.com

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