Summary
- Dreams Take Flight Canada, a charity organization, teamed up with Air Canada to take nearly 120 deserving children from Vancouver to Disneyland within the fifth flight of this yr’s program.
- This system was temporarily suspended resulting from the pandemic, making this the primary flight in three years.
- Volunteers from Air Canada were excited to supply a magical and cozy experience for the kids, allowing them to create fun memories and take a break from their every day lives.
Formally established in 1989, Dreams Take Flight Canada is a charity organization that goals to bring deserving children to Walt Disney World or Disneyland. While the planning and fundraising are done through community contributions, the flights are sometimes sponsored by Air Canada. But because the pandemic, Dreams Take Flight program has been temporarily suspended.
Now, it’s back, and on October 18th, for the primary time in three years, Air Canada and the charity organization were capable of team as much as proceed creating memorable journeys of a lifetime for nearly 120 deserving children. They took all of them the way in which from the lower mainland of Vancouver to California to mark the fifth flight on this yr’s program.
Dreams Take Flight to Los Angeles
Early this morning, at 06:22, an Airbus A321-200 departed from Vancouver International Airport, operating as Air Canada flight AC 7181. Onboard this narrowbody were 119 children from various organizations just like the British Columbia Kid’s Hospital, Kid’s Organ Transplant Society, and various school groups from the lower mainland.
Photo: Air Canada
Accompanying these excited children were an enthusiastic crew of current and former Air Canada worker volunteers. The team got here from many alternative positions, including flight crew, cabin crew members, maintenance engineers, and other ground staff, all of whom gave up their time to supply a magical and cozy experience throughout the flight journey. President of Dreams Take Flight Vancouver, Melissa Hance, celebrated by saying,
“Special needs haven’t got to be physical; these past few years have had a significant mental effect on the world, and we’re excited to make memories for special kids for only one magical day. Due to the support of the Air Canada Foundation, volunteers, employees, YVR, and all our national and native sponsors, a giant Warm West Coast Thanks!”
An anticipated return after three years
The return of the Dreams Take Flight program in partnership with Air Canada brought added anticipation this yr, because the last flight happened in 2019. When the pandemic created chaos, the Dreams Take Flight program from Toronto, Vancouver, and other cities in Canada found itself forced to postpone planned trips, and ultimately having to cancel its plans altogether.
Each flight takes lots of of deserving children to the world-famous magical theme parks, so the cancelations and three-year hiatus were undoubtedly disheartening for these kids. Fortunately, this yr saw this system return to some cities, akin to Winnipeg to Florida, Halifax to Orlando in April, Toronto to Florida earlier in May, Edmonton to California in September, and today, Vancouver.
Dreams Take Flight has bases in Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal, so these locations will soon see Air Canada aircraft jetting off with excited children onboard to either Florida or California. A spokesperson for the Air Canada Foundation, Valeria Durand, confirmed:
“Three more flights from across Canada are planned for this yr. Seeing these deserving children finally get their big day brings me joy. The dedication of everyone involved in making this trip occur has ensured that the kids go home with memories that they are going to cherish endlessly.”
Bottom line
Whether it’s to Florida or California, anyone can definitely agree that a visit to either city’s theme park is equally magical and memorable. It’s heartwarming to see airlines continuing to make an effort to make sure lots of of youngsters are chosen for the trip, especially given current economic pressures.
Photo: Air Canada
Besides Air Canada and Dreams Take Flight, other similar initiatives can be found in other countries, akin to British Airways’ collaboration with DreamFlight. While other airlines do support their respective chosen charities and causes, it might be amazing if more carriers could have such initiatives as sponsoring Dreams Take Flight or DreamFlight.