MIRACLE FLIGHTS

Henderson resident honored for charity work

Miracle Flights for Kids founder Ann McGee didn't care about taking the cake in the 2006 Voices Campaign.

Just being among the five finalists selected for making a positive difference was enough for her when she appeared on "The Montel Williams Show" last month.

McGee, a Henderson resident who in 1985 started the organization that flies children across the country for surgeries and specialized medical treatment, received a $20,000 check to support the organization, along with the other four finalists, who were selected from more than 2,800 entries.

The checks came from Charming Shoppes, the plus-size women's apparel retailer that sponsors the Voices Campaign, whose goal is to honor everyday women across America for their passion, leadership and achievements. The campaign's motto is "one voice can lead to a chorus for change."

Following the TV show's airing, viewers were asked to vote for this year's winner based on whose story and program moved them the most. On Nov. 24, the final winner, Tara Lawrence, who started a group called Hats Off For Cancer, was given a 2007 Hyundai Entourage.

McGee said it was nice to get the recognition, a check and a trip to New York City, where the show was taped. But the best part has been the national exposure, which she hopes will bring in more donors and clients, she said.

"Unbeknownst to me, one of my staff members nominated me," she said in an interview in her Las Vegas office.

Since she founded the "truly grass roots effort" in her apartment 21 years ago, McGee said the nonprofit organization has provided about 46,000 flights.

Miracle Flights for Kids works with commercial airlines and private pilots, using any aircraft they can to get kids -- some who "have diseases you've never heard of" -- to the care they need, she said.

The group also solicits monetary donations, which pay for flights that can cost thousands of dollars, she said. Some children need to be flown for treatment often, even monthly, and what increases the cost even more is that at least one adult flies with them.

"If we can't get it donated or sponsored, we purchase the ticket," she said, sitting in her office's conference room, the walls of which are adorned with pictures of the children the group has helped.

While these children may have doctors in their community to treat them, they aren't always the most qualified to treat their diseases, she said. Miracle Flights gives families a treatment option to see doctors somewhere else in the country who may be highly specialized in certain illnesses, she said.

For McGee, it has become a very personal mission, she explained, getting up from her chair and walking over to a picture of a girl who suffers from a venous malformation. Veins in her tongue won't stop growing, she said, and the condition has made the lower portion of her face abnormally large.

She covered up the bottom part of the girl's face to illustrate that despite the illness, she is like everyone else. Yet she gets teased, can't breathe well or keep her tongue in her mouth because of her condition, McGee said.

"Look at this gorgeous little thing," she said, staring at the picture after removing her hand.

Las Vegas resident Missy Wasilevich attributes much of her son's quality of life to the organization. Daniel Tijerina, now 7, took his first flight a few years ago to undergo a surgery that has greatly changed his life, she said.

Born several weeks premature, Tijerina suffers from cerebral palsy, blindness and a seizure disorder, his mother said. The cerebral palsy made his legs so tight and spastic that he was unable to walk without a surgery, which at the time was done only at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Now, she can say confidently that it was a great success.

"Not only can he walk ... but now he can get in and out of bed and on and off the potty by himself," she said.

Wasilevich, who also has a daughter and is expecting another baby, estimated that first flight cost about $850 and the second time they went was $750. Tijerina is supposed to go back to the hospital annually for checkups and to develop a yearly care strategy, she said.

In the grand scheme of things, she admitted it wasn't a lot of money, but not having to worry about paying for transportation "gave them one more thing to check off the list." She said it was helpful because that money could be used to pay insurance deductibles and medication costs.

Wasilevich doesn't expect that her son will ever be independent, but said she is grateful for the progress he has made, because "it's the little things that matter most." Her son realizes his physical limitations and he gets frustrated, but she and her husband want to give him the best quality of life relative to the circumstances, she said.

"For us, those are the goals that we work on," she said.

Wasilevich was happy to learn last month that Miracle Flights had been pushed into the national spotlight.

"It's a remarkable gift, just the national exposure is so amazing," she said. "I think it's every parent's dream who's ever used them to say thank you bigger than we ever could."

One of the best things about her experience with Miracle Flights for Kids, Wasilevich said, was the personal connection she felt to the people. She said the organization didn't make her feel as if she were a failing parent asking for a handout.

"Often it's hard to ask for help and accept help," she said.

In hindsight, McGee said she could not have done this on her own and that the giving community of Las Vegas "has bellied up to the bar" for more than two decades now.

"I can remember when getting a $5 donation was the highlight of my day," she said.

Today, Miracle Flights has an annual budget of $3.6 million, and 77 percent of the money raised goes to the children, she said.

Last year, Miracle Flights saw a 36-percent increase in the number of flights it was able to facilitate. But McGee said she won't look too far into the future when asked about her goals.

"I always say my goal doesn't go farther than the next phone call. And I hope we can say 'yes,' " she said. "Because you started with nothing, you don't think like that."