Back to Pioneer Hall of Fame
Year Inducted
Priscilla Blum
2015
Contact information may be available to logged in members.
Professional Bio
In 1981, Priscilla "Pat" Blum and cofounder Jay Weinberg created the Corporate Angel Network (CAN). CAN is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit charity that arranges free air travel for cancer patients, traveling to and from recognized specialized treatment centers, using the empty seats made available by some 580 participating companies on board their corporate jet aircraft during routine business travel schedules. As a cancer survivor, and therefore personally experienced with all of the trials and hardships associated with the disease, Pat reached out to a business friend and fellow cancer survivor, Jay Weinberg, with a novel idea and a vision. She hoped to provide many thousands of cancer patients the opportunity to travel to their distant treatment centers on board corporate aircraft at no charge to the patient. Pat, a GA pilot and Piper Comanche owner who based her airplane at Westchester County airport (HPN), was always amazed at the volume of corporate jets landing and departing with only one or two passengers on board. It prompted her to ask the companies operating these aircraft if they would consider helping a cancer patient fly to his or her treatment center when their airplane and the patient were headed to the same destination on the same day. She and Jay spent countless hours discussing all of the many facets of their vision of helping cancer patients travel to life saving treatment with no hassle, no crowds, in a dignified and comfortable environment, hosted by people who would care enough to offer their available empty seats at no charge to cancer patients. Consulting with another HPN-based friend, Leonard Greene, owner and president of Safe Flight Instrument Company, resulted in the launch of their new aviation charity on December 22, 1981. Michael Burnett, an 18-year-old cancer patient, flew on board Leonard's King Air 200 from HPN to Wayne County Airport in Detroit after his treatment at New York's Sloan Kettering. Located in two small offices provided by C
Year Inducted
2015