World Wings International, Inc.

Members unable to attend the Quebec Convention may wonder how we spent this year of our 50th Anniversary and indeed some reflection on our past and present will be useful at his time. Most chapters marked our anniversary and remarkable longevity in some form or fashion, while Atlanta, located in the city of the CARE Headquarters, accepted an invitation to celebrate our 50th anniversary and enduring WWI/CARE Partnership there.

Chapters have been quite interested in supporting our WWI-Endowment Fund in addition to their existing charities, but many questions remained throughout the year about the fund’s goals and origin. For this reason, I’ll reprise here parts of my explanation to Chapter Presidents (from January 19, 2009). If needed again for your files, we will resend the letter, per request.

The WWI Endowment Fund (formerly the Aviation Endowment Fund) was created with memorial donations from members who wanted to make sure World Wings International would endure after their demise. According to their wishes, the funds are to be used to subsidize the costs of running our organization and allow us to get professional managerial help eventually, while keeping member dues as low as possible. (The International Treasurer has recommendations for proper fund allocation from any fundraisers held.) You'll find the Endowment Fund listed under its old name of Aviation Endowment Fund in every Annual Report since 2000, but not in our Bylaws, last revised in 1995. The Bylaws, now under review, will reflect this change.

Member-at-Large Kari Beese successfully took the initiative to take on a whole convention and has inspired others to submit a convention bid. For instance, on the heels of the Quebec success, the Boston Chapter submitted and won the bid to host Convention 2011. We salute and thank the Boston Chapter and are looking forward to all their city has to offer. You may expect details to follow in our Coordinator’s report, as the BOS program gets fleshed out.

Of course now all our attention has shifted to Tokyo, where convention preparations have been in full swing for some time. The Tokyo Delegation made a beautiful presentation in Quebec. The attention to detail was truly impressive and Convention 2010 at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa promises to be a marvelous event. If you, like many of us, haven’t been to the Far East since your flying days or honeymoon, I urge you take full advantage of this opportunity to retrace your steps and reconnect with friends, old and new.

We should take pride in the fact that our philanthropic efforts have not gone unnoticed by companies who follow philanthropy in New York and that, again this year, The New York Times Company has invited WWI to compete for the 2010 NY Times Non-Profit Excellence awards.

There is good news on the PR front too. Communications Director Anne Sweeney has put out many press releases regarding our 50th-Anniversary Activities and reports increased Pan Am- related activity on the social websites she monitors. We have picked up various members through these social sites and Anne reports that we seem to have a surprising number of fans from unexpected quarters. She also was contacted by a London production company for a Discovery Channel Documentary and expects to get more media queries as we continue to add web content.

Please note that the Spring Meeting for the Board of Directors will be hosted by the SFO Chapter and is set for 29 April-01 May. Agenda items may be emailed to me for consideration by the Board, if submitted no later than Mid-March. Happy New Year to all and on to Tokyo…
 

Norma B Simon