(NewsNation) — As Americans prepare to make merry this week with Christmas and Hanukkah, the spirit of the season also calls us to open our hearts and our wallets to people in need.
Luke’s Wings is indeed a worthy cause. Since 2008, the nonprofit is devoted to providing free airfares to wounded, ill, and injured service members and their loved ones.
Some of their most recent success stories include Ray Brady, who was medevacked out of his army post in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa a few weeks ago after a neuropathy left him with numbness in his legs. On Monday, he’ll be flying home to Utah for Christmas Eve.
Rick Colberg, Sergeant First Class in the United States Army, will spend the holiday with his two sons. In 2014 after serving in Afghanistan, he suffered life-threatening injuries.
“The philosophy is, if you’ve served for us and you’ve sacrificed for us, then your family should be with you during your recovery,” Luke’s Wings co-founder and CEO Fletcher Gill told “The Hill Sunday.”
“You know everybody should be doing something for you, and this is just our little piece of the puzzle, but we’ve expanded the mission over the years to include veterans in hospice care, to make sure our World War Two veterans are never alone when they pass away, young men and women who now have cancer because they were exposed to burn pits and uranium deposits and things like that,” he added.
To learn more about Luke’s Wings and how you can help their cause, click here.