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A former Springfield native is doing her part to assist people who can't afford transportation costs to receive medical care. KSMU's Nathan McVay has the story.
Amelia Barker graduated from Missouri State in 1998. Now, 10 years later she is fronting a cause that could help thousands across the United States.
Barker is in the process of creating a non-profit organization called "Amelia's Wings" and is already receiving national recognition.
"The purpose of this organization is really to help people who need to travel in order to receive medical care. Our hope is to allow people to donate frequent flyer miles, hotel points, or even money to help people if they need to travel, either by plane or even if they just need a hotel"
Barker says in 2005, 15 million people couldn't receive the medical care they needed due to issues such as travel and lodging. Numbers like these coupled with the fact that a close family member was spending thousands in medical transportation costs prompted Barker to become so passionate about this issue.
"There are thousands and thousands of people who just cant get to a doctor when they need it. And so my goal with this project is to reach out with commericial airlines and normal hotel chains and really make these options available for them that they have never had before."
Barker has entered her organization into the American Express Members project, a competition where American Express donates $2.5 million to non-profit organizations.
Barker says she believes a contribution the through this program would help tremendously.
"That could help so many more people so much faster than just me trying to get it started on my own. It would really be a fantastic foundation for the organization"
For a link to more information on Barker and Amelia's Wings you can visit our website at KSMU.org. For KSMU News, I'm Nathan McVay.
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