Airlink, the 24/7 disaster relief organization that links pre-qualified nonprofits with airlines for passengers and cargo transportation, is the recipient of a USD $3 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. This grant will be used to establish an air bridge which will streamline transportation of critically needed supplies to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
“Airlink is deeply gratified by the support of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the opportunity to be part of their initiative to create and support innovative solutions to address the Ebola outbreak,” said Steve Smith, the Executive Director of Airlink. “With the supply chain significantly contracted by many carriers deciding not to fly into West Africa at this time, many of our nonprofit partners have told us we are the only avenue for them to deliver aid.”
The first flight of this modern-day airlift will leave from Chicago this coming Tuesday, September 23 on Nippon Cargo Airlines. The routing of the shipment will take it from Chicago’s O’Hare airport nonstop to Frankfurt’s Hahn Airport, where it will be trucked to Liege, Belgium and boarded on Western Global Cargo Airlines for the flight to Monrovia, Liberia.
Consisting of emergency medical aid and personal protective gear for healthcare workers fighting the deadly Ebola outbreak, this shipment is the first in a regular flow of shipments which will take place over the next three months, covered by the grant.
The five nonprofit organizations in Airlink’s network of nonprofits sending the much-needed supplies in the airlift are: AFYA Foundation, AmeriCares, ChildFund International, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Direct Relief, Operation USA andUniversity of Massachusetts Medical School. Other Airlink partners providing logistical support on the ground are LIFT, ALAN and DAMCO.
“Working closely with our partners, we strive to promote interoperability between responding nonprofit organizations in order to reduce supply chain inefficiencies when delivering aid workers and their cargoes to disaster sites worldwide. We pride ourselves on the ability to ensure that the right critical aid cargo gets to the intended recipients at the right time,” concluded Smith.
ABOUT AIRLINK
Airlink is a 24/7 disaster response organization that links pre-qualified nonprofits with partner airlines for passenger and cargo transportation. Airlink’s rapid-response business model supports the delivery of the right aid to the right people in a timely manner. With a global air transportation network that is constantly expanding as crises and natural disasters continue to occur around the world, Airlink has supported humanitarian initiatives on every continent. Since its inception in 2010, Airlink’s airline partners have flown approximately 3,400 passengers and transported over 800,000 lbs. of cargo.For more information, please visit www.airlinkflight.org.
ABOUT PAUL G. ALLEN
Paul G. Allen is a leading investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist who has given more than $1.5 billion to charitable causes over his lifetime. He founded Vulcan Inc. in 1986 with Jody Allen to oversee his business and philanthropic activities. Today, that Seattle-based company oversees a wide range of Allen’s investments and projects throughout the world. In 2003, he created the Allen Institute for Brain Science to accelerate understanding of the human brain in health and disease and, a decade later, launched the expansion of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence to explore opportunities for development in the field of AI. He is the co-founder of The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which has awarded more than $475 million to nonprofits in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Through his foundation and direct gifts, Allen has given about $10 million since 2008 to support key research, education and technology initiatives across Africa. For more information, go to www.paulallen.com.
The Paul G Allen Family Foundation also committed $2.8 million to the American Red Cross in August 2014. This donation is currently funding equipment, volunteers and educational materials in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to help stop Ebola.
For more information, visit TackleEbola.com and follow #TackleEbola on Twitter
