Thousands and Thousands of Lights along with interactive displays bring joy, love and inspiration to those who visit the New City North Pole Airport Holiday Light Display hosted by the Cirlin Family in New City, NY. Angel Flight NE Founder, Larry Camerlin along with Cheryl B. (picture in far right hand corner) visited the Cirlin’s earlier this week to experience this amazing event that takes place nightly from the Saturday after Thanksgiving to the end of December.

With the holiday season in full swing, we want to take a moment to say “Thank You” to one of our families who support our mission annually.

Our ability to assist patients – children and adults – would not be possible without the strong belief in our mission of ensuring distance is never an obstacle for those requiring travel during their healthcare journey.  From our amazing, giving and compassionate Volunteer Pilots and Ground Crew Members to our sponsors and supporters, we are truly blessed with unwavering support that has made our mission for nearly 27 years possible.

One family in particular has gone above and beyond for 7 years raising funds to support more than 230 flights of healing and hope for Angel Flight NE patients and families.  About an hour north of New York City is a beautiful town deemed as one of the best places to live in the state of New York – New City, NY. An amazing family – the Cirlin’s – transform their residence located on Oriole Road in New City, NY annually into a winter light festival with thousands and thousand of lights and hand-crafted displays for everyone to enjoy creatively named “New City North Pole Airport”. If you are on Facebook, stop by the NCNP Facebook page.

The annual First (F)light traditionally takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving and continues into the last week of December, but planning for each year’s lighting spectacular starts almost immediately as the New Year ushers in. The Cirlin Family and their community of amazing elves work diligently throughout the year leading up to the First (F)Light to create and bring even more interactive displays and adventures for all ages to enjoy year after year. Their efforts not only raise funds to support Angel Flight NE’s mission but also to support People to People, a nonprofit organization that helps put food on the tables of more than 1,400 low-income families every month in Rockland County.

This year’s inaugural lighting was even more poignant as it was dedicated to an amazing, inspirational little girl – Addi – from Vermont who succumbed to an ultra-rare condition in June. Her family has established a foundation called “Big Beautiful Life” in Addi’s memory with the mission of spreading joy to children in medical crisis, supporting their helpers & raising awareness about medical complexity.  Angel Flight NE coordinated more than 200 flights and ground transportation missions to support Addi and her family during her healthcare journey.  Her story was featured in our 2019 Evening of Angels Gala video.

An amazing 10 year old warrior Teagan, also an Angel Flight NE patient, assisted with the 2022 New City North Pole Airport lighting ceremony. Teagan and her family are forever a part of the Angel Flight NE family. We were able to coordinate flights with the generosity of JetBlue so Teagan could receive specialized medical care for a congenital heart defect called “Tetralogy of Fallot” at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford in California even before she was born and in the months after her birth. As shown in the picture to the left, Teagan was joined by her parents and younger sister at this year’s lighting event.

Support from families, like the Cirlin’s and the communities they reside in, are priceless!  We would not be able to help the thousands of patients who turn to us annually if it was not for the dedication and commitment of everyone who supports our vital mission.

Together, we are making the Impossible, Possible!

Thank You and God Bless You for your support and belief in our healing mission. With your help and belief in our mission, we are able to ensure that distance is never an obstacle for the thousands of patients who turn to us for help annually.

Warmest regards,

Fr. Larry & the AFNE Staff