Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award

Ann McGee, BA ’70

  

Ann McGee is the founder and national president of Miracle Flights for Kids.  Mrs. McGee has spent her life improving the quality of life for sick children and their families.  A graduate of Roosevelt University and a teacher for children with disabilities, Ann has spent the last two decades dedicated to improving access to healthcare for kids that suffer from debilitating illnesses such as cancer, heart and lung diseases, leukemia, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida and so many other rare diseases.  Many are babies – some only days old – but their stories are the same: they need urgent medical attention to give them a chance at life.

Mrs. McGee believes that a healthy life is the birth right of every child.  Her passion has been to encourage parents to seek out specialists, or to get that so important second or even third opinion that is necessary in determining the best treatment options for their child.  By giving children access to the best and brightest doctors that specialize in their diseases, she adds time and improved quality of life for these precious children. 

Twenty three years ago, Mrs. McGee recognized the need in Southern Nevada communities for the coordination of aviation services that could provide no cost transportation for blood, donor organs, and patients to medical facilities around the country.  Out of this recognition of unfulfilled need, Mrs. McGee started a grass roots program called Miracle Flights for Kids. This philanthropic community service program was created to provide families with financial hardships free flights to hospitals and treatment centers they could not otherwise reach. 

Through her hard work and dedication the program grew from only a handful of flights for local kids to a nation-wide effort that flies sick children from all corners of the country.  To-date, her compassionate program has completed more than 51,000 flights and provided over 26 million miles of free healthcare access for America’s families.   Through these miracle missions, Mrs. McGee has stood true in her belief that money should never stand in the way of any child getting access to the best possible medical treatment – no matter how far or how often. Mrs. McGee’s goals and passion are best described in the stories of the children she helps of which one story of a pair of Nevada twins’ follows.

Taylor and Kristen's Story

 

Taylor and Kirsten Halbert are four year old identical twins who were born two months premature.  Due to their prematurity, they were monitored by several specialists for their growth and development and respiratory function. 

When Taylor was about three months old we noticed what appeared to be a large rash forming on her back.  As the next two months went on, the "rash" turned into a large "birthmark".   

After several visits to different doctors, it was determined that it was not, in fact, a birthmark, but a large tumor growing on her back and chest wall.  Both of our girls were diagnosed with a condition know as Neurofibromatosis Type I.   

Neurofibromatosis is a condition where tumors can grow on nerves anywhere in or on the body.  We found after doing much research that the condition was rare and there were few doctors to treat it.  In our state there were no doctors who specialized in this condition and so we started looking out-of-state for help. 

We began traveling to doctors in California and found that those doctors had too many patients to give our daughters the care they needed.  So with that we began looking at other states and found a doctor in Salt Lake City who we wanted to see.  Travel expenses for the four of us in the family would really be a challenge for us.  We found an advertisement for Miracle Flights for Kids in out local paper.  We called and what we got has changed our daughter’s lives. 

Since June of 2005 we have made several flights to Salt Lake City all because of Miracle Flights for Kids.  Since their initial diagnosis Taylor has also developed other effects form her NF including seizures and scoliosis which causes us to fly there even more than we had expected.  We are so thankful that Miracle Flights has been there for the support not only financially but emotionally as well.  Several times we had medical complications while there in Utah and had to stay longer than expected.  After one phone call to Miracle Flights for Kids the flights were changed.  Words can not describe how comforting that was for us when our daughter was going through so much. 

With Miracle Flights for Kids Taylor and Kirsten are able to reach the doctors that specialize in their condition whenever they need to be seen.  Having children with a medical condition is very hard but Miracle Flights for Kids has taken the financial burden away and allowed us to focus on the real important issue of our daughters health and not on the stress of how to pay for the flights to get there. 

Miracle Flights for Kids has allowed Taylor and Kirsten to get the care and treatment that they need and deserve.  Thank you Miracle Flights for everything.

Chris, Jennifer, Taylor, & Kirsten – Nevada

Mrs. McGee is touching the lives of children daily with compassion, understanding and help to get them where they need to be.

 

 

Alumni