2022 First Quarter Newsletter

In an effort to keep our many supporters up to date on Honor Flight Columbus plans and activities, this is the first of quarterly newsletters that will be sent to our veterans, guardians, volunteers, donors and our many other supporters. We will also be posting these newsletters on our website (honorflightcmh.org). Subsequent newsletters will be sent to everyone on our distribution list in May, August and November. If you wish to be removed from our newsletter list please let us know by sending an email to info@honorflightcmh.org. Leadership Change As you may have seen in previous communications, Bob Horner has been elected as our new Executive Director. Bob recently retired as a senior executive at Nationwide Insurance. He has supported Honor Flight Columbus since 2009 in a variety of roles including flight sponsor, guardian, volunteer, bus leader, flight leader and Chairman of the Board. You can reach Bob by email at executivedirector@honorflightcmh.org. Please feel free to reach out to Bob if you need an Honor Flight Columbus speaker at your event. 2022 Veteran Flights For the first time since 2019, Honor Flight Columbus is looking forward to a full calendar year of flights to Washington, D.C. Honor Flight Columbus is planning on six (6) flights during 2022. The spring flights have been confirmed with the American Airlines charter service and will be held on the following three Thursdays: April 14; May 12; June 9. We expect to confirm and announce the three fall flights later this spring. We will fly approximately 100 veterans on each flight and have already begun to book veterans on our waiting list. As always, terminally ill, World War II and Korean War veterans are given priority. Vietnam veterans are booked in the chronological order of their applications. Our veteran applications can be found on our website and/or picked up at our office (2233 North Bank Drive, Columbus, Ohio, 43220). We are very pleased to report that there is no longer a requirement that veterans be vaccinated to be eligible to fly. Honor Flight Columbus will not require masks, however, all flight participants will be required to follow any airline, bus, airport, and/or local requirements regarding masks. Guardian and Volunteer Opportunities During the remainder of February, Honor Flight Columbus staff will be coordinating with volunteer and guardian leadership to review 2021 outcomes and plan for 2022. During the second week of March, we will post requirements and guidelines for guardian and volunteer opportunities in 2022. Inaugural Honor Flight Columbus Annual Fund Also during the second week of March, we will be announcing our first ever Annual Fund. Our donors have always been, and continue to be, the lifeblood of our organization. Their kind generosity has allowed Honor Flight Columbus to fly over 8,000 veterans to Washington, D.C. This Annual Fund will afford us an opportunity to recognize this remarkable group of individuals, businesses and communities. 2022 Honor Flight Columbus Veteran Reunion We have begun plans for this year’s veteran reunion. Veterans who flew in 2021 (Missions 103-112) are invited to attend. The reunion will be held at Motts Military Museum on Sunday, June 26. Invitations to the reunion will be sent later this spring. We are looking forward to another wonderful year of honoring our nation’s veterans. Please let us know if we can do anything to facilitate the application of any veterans you may know. We are happy to help reduce the uncertainty or anxiety that veterans sometime have about this trip. As always, we are committed to the comfort and safety of these treasured patriots and we look forward to ensuring a great day for each and every one of them. Bob Horner, Executive Director executivedirector@honorflightcmh.org Megan Jacob, Director, Veterans Operations veterans@honorflightcmh.org Beth Johnson, Director, Office Management & Guardian Operations guardians@honorflightcmh.org