MVERG Members Help with Honor Flight Columbus

MVERG members Michael Knorps (left) and Robert Murphy assemble kits for veterans on trips sponsored by Honor Flight Columbus to Washington, D.C. war memorials.

AEP employees who are members of the [Military Veterans Employee Resource Group] (MVERG) volunteered recently with Honor Flight Columbus by assisting with flight preparations.

Employees Michael Knorps, security technical specialist senior; Robert Murphy, security technical specialist senior; John Anderson, IT project manager principal; John Woods, IT support technician principal, and Rebecca Naugle, coordinator, East Transmission Planning, helped recently to prepare for an Honor Flight taking place May 19. (Anderson, Naugle and Woods are shown left to right in the photo with this story on the AEP Now home page.)

MVERG members acted as operations volunteers, going to the Honor Flight office in Grandview Heights and helping with flight preparations for veterans and the volunteers who accompanied them on the flight.

The work involves assembling and preparing about 20 bags containing snacks, water, weather gear, informational materials, notes of appreciation from family members and friends, badges, t-shirts, flags and other items for each individual taking the trip. The task usually takes several days to one week prior to each trip.

“It was exciting to be able to volunteer in this capacity, it was a great opportunity to contribute,” Knorps said. “We really enjoyed doing a small part to show our appreciation to these veterans.”

“Honor Flight really appreciated our help,” Anderson said. “It was fun and we accomplished quite a bit.”

The non-profit organization Honor Flight Columbus flies World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans to Washington, D.C. at no charge to the veterans. This allows veterans to visit the various war memorials at the National Mall, and to have appreciation shown to them on the visit and upon their return.

Since its founding in 2007, the group has flown 5,300 veterans to Washington. Honor Flight Columbus is the first Hub in the Honor Flight Network, which now has more than 131 Hubs in 45 states.