May... Mother's Day... Dominican Airlift...

It happens every year!

The beginning of May has become significant because it is the time for the Annual Dominican Airlift. This great event is coordinated by our Healing the Children Midlantic Chapter and our liaison in the Dominican Republic, Dr. Luis Cuello of Corazones Unidos. The scene is one of high energy and confusion as 90 to 100 kids with a multitude of afflictions arrive at JFK in New York.

The children and Dominican escorts clear customs right at the gate and then the children are sorted out to their respective receiving chapter. For those remaining on the East Coast, they are gathered by host families and whisked off. For our chapter, we have a group of volunteer escorts waiting to gather the kids, as we have another flight or two before we meet the host families in Michigan.

After potty breaks, diaper changes and a check for necessary papers, we load our kids up into strollers and carts and it is off to our awaiting People Express bus for a frantic ride to Laguardia Airport where we board another plane for our flight to Detroit. We all bring healthy snack food to tide the little ones over, as by now they are getting hungry. Juice boxes are a blessing. I wonder who invented them.

We land in Detroit and about half of the little ones and escorts depart here, meeting up with the host families. The others head off for yet another flight. It is after 11:00 pm when it is finally over. Host families gather up the tired, scared kids and off they go into the night to begin their journey of healing.

Here are some scenes from Dominican Airlifts past.