Give A Mile - Crowdfunding miles to help families fly to see loved ones who are critically or terminally ill

This is one of those posts that we love to write and it really puts meaning behind all the miles and points we collect. We are excited to share with you details of a loyalty rewards charity that is also based in our home town of Calgary. We're sure some of you have heard of them but for those of you who have not we'd like to introduce you to Give A Mile.

Established in Calgary, Canada in February 2013, Give A Mile is dedicated to bringing together the terminally ill, or critically sick, with family members or close friends by crowdfunding airline flights through micro-donations of travel loyalty points. We work across Canada. We are 100% donation model so all miles donated go to flights.  We are 100% volunteer team with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal of giving 1 billion miles to families that need these flights.  A federally registered not-for-profit agency in Canada, Give A Mile is recognized as a charity by Aeroplan’s Beyond Miles program, and offers tax receipts for money donations to donors through an agreement with the Place2Give Foundation.

Our website is www.giveamile.org

Check this out, in the four years that Give A Mile has been in operation they have now provided 330 flights courtesy of over 11 million miles that have been donated by people like you!

The stats are simply amazing and summed up beautifully in this infographic:

Give A Mile primarily works with Aeroplan but also has partnerships with American Express, Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. That looks familiar! All amazing programs that come highly recommended right here on Rewards Canada. You can also choose to donate cash which helps cover taxes and fees on the award tickets provided to those in need.

You can find out what miles programs are accepted and how to donate at the following link:
http://giveamile.org/donate/

An example of a current flight being worked on:

Husband To Fly To Canada To See Dying Wife – 100,000 miles
My name is Edith and I am a palliative home care client. I was diagnosed with advanced Stage 4 Pancreatic and Breast Cancer. I have “very little time left.” I am a mother of 7 children (ages 14-24) and I have been in Canada for many years. My children and I are Canadian citizens but my husband lives in Nigeria. My husband would love to come to Canada right now but due to finances we are unable to have him come. There is so much we need to take care of as a couple before my time is up. I really want to see us altogether to be able to say the things I need to. Please consider my application for my husband, he already has his travel visa and can come anytime.

Pedro’s flight story

Deborah's Flight Story

The Story behind Give A Mile

Whether you already knew about Give A Mile or you didn't before this post, we thank you for reading all about them and encourage you to check out their site to see everything they do. We also encourage you to think about donating as the minimum donation is only 1,000 miles. For a lot of us in the points and miles world that isn't much, in fact there are times you can earn that amount by taking advantage of free miles and points offers.  For example you can get 750 Aeroplan miles just by test driving Toyota vehicles (250 per test drive with a limit of 1 per month, up to 3 times in a year) and then 100 Aeroplan miles for signing up for Home Hardware emails. You would just have to earn 150 more miles to be able to make a donation (one grocery shopping trip put on an Aeroplan credit card would do!)

Be sure to check out giveamile.org today.