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Monthly newsletter of the Washington State association, as part of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
Monday, January 25, 2021
The latest Events for you - NAIFA January 2021 Newsletter
Thursday, August 3, 2017
2017 IFAPAC and MEC
In the early years of Single Premium Life (endowments),
producers sold the heck out of them. It took a while before the feds figured
out they were being used as tax-shelters. That epiphany led to the resurrection
of the decades old debate about taxing the inside build-up in a life insurance
contract, a war NAIFA has been fighting since 1913. And won every battle.
But this time a law was even closer to being enacted, a law that
would cause the taxation of inside build-up in all life insurance policies. And
the lawmakers were not going to “grandfather” older contracts. Producers feared
the end of their careers! NAIFA’s PAC swung into action once again and, with
the ACLI and other advocates, convinced the itchy-fingered representatives in
Washington, DC to avert the disaster.
The result was the Technical Corrections Act of 1988 (H.R 4333,
S. 2238) and the Modified Endowment Contract, or MEC. The MEC is a cash value
life insurance contract where the premiums paid have exceeded the amount used
to keep the full tax treatment of a cash value life insurance policy. Anyone
that sells permanent life insurance knows about the MEC. It’s important to
remember that NAIFA was a key player in negotiating the legislation that saved
the beloved life insurance contract from being taxed as was the original plan
of said lawmakers.
NAIFA, on both the State and Federal level, continues to fight
battles to preserve this noble business. If the life insurance industry is to
survive, we need Advocates. The PAC sustains our Advocates in Olympia and DC
which means NAIFA represents you and your clients. Which really means NAIFA and
IFAPAC work to assure that your career is allowed to continue. IFAPAC has been
called “Career Insurance” and it is! That’s why I continue to contribute to the
PAC after 42 years in the business. That’s why Alex Collins and I urge you to
contribute to IFAPAC monthly, by bank draft.
$8.50/month makes you a Century Club member. Do it! It won’t
hurt. In fact, it will help your career.
Richard Ek
NAIFA member since 1975
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Change is in the Air
One
of the biggest questions I continue to get is what are the next steps. So, I
will do my best to answer them in this article so everyone knows what is to
come.
For
the associations that have already reported approval of the measure to the
state, you and your members will receive an email from Jenna asking your local
for a formal email vote to merge your local into the new One Washington Local.
Once you have voted (either in affirmation or declination) you will stop receiving emails asking for your vote. Once your local has reached 75% in favor
of the merger, your local will officially be merged into the new local. Nothing
will be done with your current membership until your local has reached 75%! If
you are strongly in favor or opposed, please help us get the vote out! We need
to hear from the membership to know how to best lead you all moving
forward.
We
do not expect this to happen overnight, and Micheal Staeb, myself or anyone on
the Steering Committee would be happy to address any concerns or questions you
have. We all know how hard change is and like many of you, I remember 15 years
ago how different it was in local meetings. This is our chance to ensure our
association is around not just 15 years from now, but hopefully another 130
years! I look forward to doing my part to carry this great legacy you all have
handed me.
Best,
Stephen
Good
Incoming
President
Friday, June 9, 2017
2017 IFAPAC
“Our goals
can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently
believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to
success.”
Richard Ek
Co-Chair IFAPAC
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Moving NAIFA Forward
NAIFA is changing…..are you ready?
We held our State Convention in Lake Chelan, Washington
May 24th to the 26th and we had a wonderful agenda of
education, entertainment and business to move NAIFA forward. Thank you to all those who attended because
without you it would not have been the great convention that it was.
We were so privileged to have our National President Paul
Dougherty and our Secretary/Treasurer Jill Judd in attendance. Both of them taking the time away from their
family and business to support our State and Local associations is an amazing
show of leadership and support for our industry.
NAIFA is changing because the leadership at our State level
knew it was time to get off the status quo train that we are on. A steering committee was formed and they
stepped up to the plate and did what they said they were going to do. They discussed, analyzed and came to the
conclusion we needed to create the One Washington Initiative.
With the leadership of our President Elect and now State
President Stephen Good and Communications Chair/RVP/Graphics Stud Michael
Staeb, a detailed presentation was given to our local attendees on why this
change is best for local associations and overall general membership in Washington. We had great dialogue, questions, and
concerns. At the end of the 1 hour presentation and discussion, it was very
clear, what had been created and proposed will benefit our members if we
continue to follow through and do what we say we are going to do. I know we will have success with this change!
Taking on a leadership role such as President is not
always easy but it is a smoother process when you have a team surrounding you
that is engaged and wants our association to stay viable so it may continue to help
grow and protect our businesses.
Many, many thanks to all of you that held positions on
the State Board and supported the change we needed to make!
It was an absolute pleasure to serve our member
association and it is an absolute pleasure to pass the torch to our new
President Stephen Good. I feel the flame
is strong but it will become even stronger with Stephen as President. We need to “Resist the urge to become uninvolved” and step up to help
President Good in serving our membership.
Our clients, communities and industry are counting on
us…….are you in?
Neal Kloke, Immediate Past President
2017 Sponsorship
Thank you to
each of our sponsors who attended our Annual State Convention in Lake
Chelan. We appreciate your partnership and look forward to capitalizing
on the relationships we created together!
Ohio National
TASC
Symetra
Illinois
Mutual
Regence
Kiel
Mortgage
Reverse
Mortgage Funding
Thrivent
Keith Wallace
Sponsorship
Chair
2017 Government Relations
I recently returned from the
Congressional conference in Washington DC (the other Washington) and it was the
usual bittersweet trip. You see fellow
members, I am aggravated by politics, but I feel compelled to act. I can’t sit on the sidelines. I just wonder at times, as you do, whether it
matters.
Make no mistake though, our
efforts are effective. Visiting with our
Senators and Congressmen/women, especially those who fundamentally disagree
with us, makes a difference. I’ve
experienced a change in the attitude and demeanor of many staff aides and at
least some legislators. It’s much harder
to dislike and dismiss us once we’ve met multiple times over several years. I know it seems like we’ve lost some battles,
but we would be far worse off without the advocacy effort.
Our membership numbers are not
where we would like them and that certainly causes angst, but the team of
professionals representing us in the nation’s capital is more effective than
ever. We also have representation in every congressional district across the
country. Don’t fret over membership
numbers. Instead celebrate the largest PAC
in the insurance industry! IFAPAC is the
gas in the advocacy car. IFAPAC is alive
and well, and it’s protecting our livelihood.
It is the answer to any objection from a member or prospective member
who questions the viability of our association or wonders what’s in it for
them.
I definitely believe we are on
the right track with the PAC & initiatives like One Washington. One Washington will streamline and centralize
our functions, smooth out the member experience, and emphasize our most
important function; advocacy. I may
grouse about the other Washington, but I will resist the urge to give in as
long as it matters.
Richard Miller
Saturday, April 8, 2017
2017 Professional Development
Has this core
tenant of NAIFA been replaced? Has the
ease of signing onto a computer to try and short cut a CE course become the new
normal? Is meeting with others to gain a
better understanding of business and insurance concepts just an old school
idea?
When one
becomes a competent Agent, it isn’t because they passed their Life and Health
exam, no that’s just the beginning. Did
you ever participate in the LUTC series of classes? Maybe skipping into the CLU and American
College program of self-study?
American’s
want their Agents and Registered Representatives to be credentialed. This gives them the confidence that at least
you have put in the effort to become an expert, not just a conscious
incompetent. Do you go to a bookkeeper
to do your taxes, or do you use a CPA?
Do you prefer a nurse over a highly credentialed Physician to supervise
your health?
It all depends
on how you see yourself I guess, but if you want to increase your competency
and your earnings, I would hope that you embrace the concept of being a lifelong
learner. I would argue that students
that go to class and participate in discussion about the lessons they are
studying, will gain far more from the experience. However, I am very disappointed that we have
very few classes active in our State.
I’m happy to see some taking advantage of the on-line courses offered
for LUTCF, but they would most likely benefit so much more in a regular
classroom. Plus, they’d be able to get
to know other agents in their area that they can learn and grow their business
with. Perhaps build alliances with, or
referral networks with. Encourage your
local leadership to start classes and gain from this experience.
LILI is
currently the only course that participates actively in the State. A great program that everyone should be
encouraged to participate in. I only
hope that in the future, we can find enthusiasm for developing the knowledge of
insurance agents through the LUTC courses.
If you want to see the industry from the non-carrier perspective, take
the classes, it will help to open your mind.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing it well.
Best of luck
to all of you in your futures as successful insurance agents, it’s a great and
empowering career.
Roger
McDowell, LUTCF
Professional
Development Chair
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
2017 Convention
Tired of all the rain? Come join us at Campbell's Resort on sunny Lake Chelan May 24-26th.
Fantastic line-up of speakers, great agenda, exhibitors, wine tasting. Come join us for an experience you won't forget.
Check out the details on the Events Calendar Tab above....
2017 March/April Legislation
There was no Trey Gowdy at this hearing
By the time you read this, HB2186 may be in the trashcan of the
House committee that wrote it. Or, it could be law. For those of you that pay
B&O tax, HB2186 was drafted to boost the B&O tax rate by 20%. Wait,
there’s more. HB2186 was to also create a brand new tax, a capital gains tax on
the sale of a business. And there were some other new taxes on real estate
sales and a few other things. Both the 20% increase in B&O and the capital
gains tax were our hot buttons.
First up were citizens with children. Madam Chair called them up
so the kids could go outside and enjoy the sunshine (and 38 degree
temperature). So the mothers (no fathers that day) each took their turn singing
Kumbaya-Tax-The-Rich and had their juveniles read prepared statements about how
much they loved their teachers and want the wealthy to pay more taxes. Great.
Next up were those that had come the farthest to testify. That was our cue to
come forward. Dale was first, I went next and Keith wrapped it up. Now, you
have to picture this: Madam Chair and the other 7 House members had just heard
from 9 women championing HB2186 and were still glowing from their pleasure of
listening to praises for their work to wring more tax money out of the rich
white guys. And so three white guys step up to the microphones.
Dale spoke of the hardships the additional taxes and the capital
gains taxes will place on small agencies in every corner of the state. Most
small business owners, in their retirement planning, expect to sell their book.
The capital gains tax will cut into the retirement plans of thousands of
producers. He also made it clear that insurance commissions are taxed multiple
times. In my two minutes (that’s all the time you get at the microphone) I gave
an example of how unfair it is that insurance producers are the only
businesspeople that eat the tax because it is forbidden, by law, for us to
charge extra or otherwise transfer the B&O tax to our clients. Keith told
the committee that the 20% increase in income tax (he reminded them that the
B&O tax is an income tax to our service segment) will lead to fewer job
openings in agencies. And in fact, it may lead to layoffs. So in about 6
minutes we laid it out for the House Committee and the others behind us about
the unfair tax on the producer community. By the way, none of the legislators
had questions for us, so we didn’t face a Trey Gowdy.
After we left, dozens of other businesspeople echoed our
sentiments about HB2186, including other independent insurance producers. Of
the 100 or so people that testified, not many repeated the mantra of the first
9 women. However, later that day the committee approved the bill as read which
means it will go to the floor of the House. It may pass, but there is a chance
the bill will die in the Senate. Again, there are only a couple of weeks
left in the 2017 Session. If you get this newsletter before the floor vote,
call, email, fax or visit your legislators, both House and Senate, and ask them
to oppose the B&O tax hike and capital gains tax. Silence is perceived as
approval.
It’s your turn next!
Richard Ek, LUTCF
IFAPAC Co-Chair
Monday, March 20, 2017
2017 March/April IFAPAC
An Amazing Story from 9-11 You Probably Haven’t Heard
We all remember where we were when we heard
that someone had flown a plane into one of the World Trade Center
towers in New York City and that not long after, a second plane had struck
its target. A third would hit the Pentagon and a fourth would go down in an
attempt to reach another target in Washington, D.C. The ripple effect of those
events continues even to this day, but we don’t often stop to remember
those that stepped forward with common kindness in the midst of the terror.
This is one of those stories as told by a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, a flight on its way to the U.S. and diverted to a small town in Canada:
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic.
All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain.
As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that “All Business” look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta’s main office in Atlanta and simply read, “All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination.”
No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander, Newfoundland.
He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately — no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request.
While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings.
We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, Newfoundland, to have it checked out.
We promised to give more information after landing in Gander. There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that’s nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM …. that’s 11:00 AM EST.
There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the US.
After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason.”
Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the US. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put.
The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane.
In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were US commercial jets.
Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC.
People were trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada . Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed.
Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed amazingly calm.
We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament.
We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning.
Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane.
Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing.
And they were true to their word.
Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.
About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross.
After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel.
We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander!
We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the US airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while.
We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started.
Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the “plane people.” We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.
Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days.
What we found out was incredible…..
Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers.
Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.
ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to take care of the “guests.”
Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged.
Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes.
Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.
Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day.
During the day, passengers were offered “Excursion” trips.
Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests.
Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.
Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools. People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft.
In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.
Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully.
It was absolutely incredible.
When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time.
Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling.
Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
And then a very unusual thing happened.
One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time was different. I said “of course” and handed him the mike. He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days.
He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers.
He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewisporte.
“He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte.
He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!
“The gentleman, an MD from Virginia , promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.
As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education.
“I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them.
It reminds me how much good there is in the world.”
“In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today’s world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward. Let’s not forget THIS fact.
This is one of those stories as told by a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, a flight on its way to the U.S. and diverted to a small town in Canada:
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic.
All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain.
As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that “All Business” look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta’s main office in Atlanta and simply read, “All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination.”
No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander, Newfoundland.
He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately — no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request.
While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings.
We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, Newfoundland, to have it checked out.
We promised to give more information after landing in Gander. There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that’s nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM …. that’s 11:00 AM EST.
There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the US.
After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason.”
Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the US. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put.
The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane.
In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were US commercial jets.
Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC.
People were trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada . Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed.
Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed amazingly calm.
We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament.
We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning.
Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane.
Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing.
And they were true to their word.
Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.
About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross.
After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel.
We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander!
We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the US airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while.
We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started.
Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the “plane people.” We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.
Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days.
What we found out was incredible…..
Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers.
Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.
ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to take care of the “guests.”
Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged.
Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes.
Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.
Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day.
During the day, passengers were offered “Excursion” trips.
Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests.
Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.
Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools. People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft.
In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.
Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully.
It was absolutely incredible.
When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time.
Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling.
Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
And then a very unusual thing happened.
One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time was different. I said “of course” and handed him the mike. He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days.
He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers.
He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewisporte.
“He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte.
He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!
“The gentleman, an MD from Virginia , promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.
As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education.
“I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them.
It reminds me how much good there is in the world.”
“In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today’s world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward. Let’s not forget THIS fact.
By Meridian Magazine · March 7, 2017
Submitted by Richard Ek, Co-Chair IFAPAC Washington
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