March 2019 Newsletter

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Chairman’s Corner

All IHF Supporters-

Welcome to March-we hope the lamb of spring arrives soon so we can start to enjoy some nicer weather! Many of our crew have been dealing with colds and flu, perhaps some warmer weather will get everyone back to good health and moving at full speed. We are so very fortunate to have so many of our oldest Veterans still with us and we want them here for as long as possible. These men and women have lived history-take the time to listen to their stories while they are here, you will not be disappointed as you listen.

All Indy Honor Flight volunteers are in full-blown spring flight mode. The buses for the April flight are full and we begin Guardian training for the April flight this coming weekend. Our Bus Co-captains for May began making calls last week and are busy doing interviews with the next group of Hoosier heroes. Our Ground Crew will host another training session on April 10th, if you want to help with the spring flights as a new volunteer you must attend our safety training; this is how we keep our operations safe for everyone.

We are providing speakers for several civic groups this month, if your group would like to learn more about what we do please give us a call or drop us an email!

We were so very fortunate to have a fundraiser on March 8th hosted by the local Rotary Clubs. These wonderful people understand our mission and believe in service to others! The goal of the fundraiser was to help fund our October flight for 2019, adding a 4th flight for this year. I am very grateful to announce their efforts were successful and we have a flight scheduled for October 26th! Many people helped to organize this event and many other donated items for the auctions and made monetary donations. We are humbled by this outpouring of support and send heartfelt thanks to all involved.

The reality of our work as a completely donation-funded group is our fundraising efforts never end. After the two spring flight we will still have over 900 Veterans on our waiting list, with more applications coming in the mail very regularly. We are quite frugal spending our donations and unlike many non-profit organizations, we are 100% volunteer run-no one working for Indy Honor Flight gets paid. We are blessed with some of the best volunteers anywhere; our crew donates hundreds of hours to make each flight happen. We have enough Veterans right now to fill another 10 flights!

We love our work and look forward to meeting each new flight’s group of Veterans. We understand these men and women served our country during times of war and richly deserve a trip of thanks, respect and appreciation. Those who wore the cloth of our country served for each and every one of us,and many came home wrapped in the flag we all love so much. So many of our heroes did not get a welcome home-please attend our Homecoming celebrations for each of our flights so they get one now! Check out our important dates listed below.

See you on the curb!

Dale True, Chairman
Indy Honor Flight

Let’s Eat!

Veterans did you know we sponsor meals in four locations around the Central Indy area for any Veteran that has flown with us? Did you know that we also have guest speakers or entertainment at each meal? Click the link below and find the one closest to you and come out and break bread with us! Bring your Guardian too !

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information just click on the CALENDAR tab for information on all IHF Events around town!

A few pictures from the January East Side Breakfast photo credit: Jeremy Oesterling

Healing begins at the Southside lunch!
The Southside Lunch showed the movie “Left Behind” about the articles that are left at the Vietnam Wall. Then our Vietnam Veterans in attendance were encouraged to share how they were treated when they returned home and how the Honor Flight helped them start to heal and how much they appreciated that gift. Photo credit: Jerry Vest

Extra, Extra read all about it…below!

We have extra IHF Photo Books Available for sale from Flight 28, October 2018: $20 + $3 shipping, Please call 317.559.1600 or email info@indyhonorflight.org if you are interested. Payments can be made via the donate on the website/mail a check to pay for them, great gifts for Guardians and other Family members.

Ground Crew – You will want to read this!

If you have ever worked the track to pick up trash then we have a deal for you. Look for more info coming to your email box regarding Cash 4 Trash!

IHF Out and About in 2019

  • April 13th Flight #29 Homecoming Plainfield Highschool
  • May 4th, Avon Cruise In – details to come
  • May 18th Flight #30 Homecoming Decatur Central High School
  • August 18th IHF 2019 Reunion – Plainfield High School – details to come!
  • September 7th Flight #31 – Homecoming Plainfield Highschool
  • October 26th Flight #32 – Homecoming TBD

December 2018 Newsletter

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Chairman’s Corner

All IHF Supporters-

Welcome to winter! We hope the recent chill is finding you happy, healthy and warm. Even though we are having very cold and wintry conditions, our thoughts are focused on spring and our first flight of 2019 in April. Our great bus co-captains are getting ready to make calls and find the next group of heroes to fly with us. We are so very fortunate to have volunteers who are willing to donate so many hours to make our flights happen!

We currently have over 1,000 Veterans on our waiting list, but we are seeing a change on the list. As you all know, the Honor Flight Network was created back in 2005 to assist WWII Veterans to see the memorial built in their honor. Since then the program has expanded to include Korea and Vietnam Veterans.

We love all Veterans and are very thankful for their service to our country. But…there is something very special about the most senior service members who fought and served in World War Two. We are now finding ourselves at the point where very few of the surviving WWII Veterans are healthy enough to fly with us. We have fewer senior Veterans to contact on each flight and we are now approaching the time where we may not be able to find any who are able to go. So, please help us by reaching out to any WWII Veteran you may know and help us get them on a flight before it is too late for them!

Our flight dates are listed below, and we will have a Ground Crew training before the April flight, so if you have thought about being involved in our terrific work, please submit a Ground Crew application. All of our volunteers go through safety training to make certain our Veterans are cared for in a professional and loving way. It requires a lot of hard work to make the flights happen. The payoff is wonderful; you will be paid in smiles from happy Veterans.

Just a reminder-if you would like to have a volunteer stop in and talk to your civic, church or business group about what the Indy Honor Flight is all about, we can help you out! We love to visit, share and help find more eligible Veterans.

Along the same lines, we are always looking for more financial support. IHF is completely donation funded and staffed 100% by unpaid volunteers. As costs increase we need donations to “keep ‘em flying”! Indy Honor Flight donations are tax-deductible and are guaranteed to make you feel warmer (at least inside).

We look forward to seeing all of you “on the curb” for our flights. Please reach out to us with any questions you may have.

In service,

Dale True
Chairman, Indy Honor Flight

Let’s Eat!

Veterans did you know we sponsor meals in four locations around the Central Indy area for any Veteran that has flown with us? Did you know that we also have guest speakers or entertainment at each meal? Click the link below and find the one closest to you and come out and break bread with us! Bring your Guardian too !

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information just click on the CALENDAR tab for information on all IHF Events around town!

Extra, Extra read all about it…below!

We have extra IHF Photo Books Available for sale from Flights 26 April & 27 May 2018: $20 + $3 shipping, Please call 317.559.1600 or email info@indyhonorflight.org if you are interested. Payments can be made via the donate on the website/mail a check to pay for them, great gifts for Guardians and other Family members.

Rotary Club Fundraiser March 8th!

Join us March 8th for the Rotary Salute to Our Veterans. The Rotary has committed to helping Indy Honor Flight fund a fourth flight in 2019. To buy tickets, bid on auction items or make a donation at One More Flight Indy

IHF Out and About in 2019

  • March 8th – Rotary Club Fundraiser
  • April 13th Flight #29
  • May 18th Flight #30
  • September 7th Flight #31
  • October 26th Flight #32

IHF News October 2018

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Chairman’s Corner

Happy October, everyone!

We have just completed our 2018 flying season with our 3rd flight of the year on October 20, our 28th flight! The weather was terrific in Washington DC and our beloved Veterans had a wonderful tour of honor and appreciation. There were 9 other Honor Flight groups there with us and we had a great time meeting other Veterans and volunteers from all over the country. All the IHF crew did a tremendous job; the photographers, the flight crews from American Airlines, our U.S. Park Police escorts, all the Guardians, Ground Crew and other supporters were top-notch! We love to see a flight come together and all the hard work to get to flight day is forgotten the minute we see all the Veteran smiles!

It is truly humbling to see the reactions of the Veterans as they get mobbed by school kids, re-enactors, active-duty soldiers, other Honor Flight’s personnel, tourists, park rangers and D.C residents. All the “thank you for your service”, kisses, hugs, handshakes and high-fives let our heroes know they are loved and respected for things some of them did long before most of the people involved were even born. These men and women made it possible for us to live the way we do, they deserve every bit of recognition we can muster. One Veteran told me he could not believe all these total strangers cared about him…a Korean family stopped one of our Korea War Veterans and said “thank you for saving our lives”…another Veteran said the anger and resentment he had felt since 1972 was gone…this trip is more than a trip, folks.

Speaking of being around a while, our oldest Veteran on the trip was 97, the youngest just a “kid” of 75! It is terrific to see the generations come together to meet, become acquainted and make new friends during the flight. We hope all our Veterans get to visit each other and continue the camaraderie long after the flight is past by joining us on our other adventures during the year; the monthly meals, the Annual Reunion, attending other flight Homecomings, and just around the corner, the Veteran’s Day parade!

Our photographers are loading our photo page with hundreds of amazing photos of our October flight, take the time to look them over and see just how our wonderful day went! All photos are available for downloading for FREE, this is one more service we offer our Veterans and their families. Go to the “Photo” Page on our website Click here for IHF then click the Flight 28 link, you will not be disappointed! We appreciate the hard work of both our Indy and Washington D.C-based photographers, they are amazingly talented.

We have several events and fundraisers coming up and we hope you are all following us on Face Book so you can keep track of what the Indy Honor Flight is up to! We love to let folks know about other Veteran-related events as well, so if you know of something coming up email us at info@indyhonorflight.org so we can let others know. We provide speakers for civic group meetings so more can learn about our mission! Let us come make a presentation to your group; we have made 8 such presentations in the last month!

If any family/friends or Guardians would like a copy of the Flight 26 (April) or 27 (May) photo memory books, we had a few extras printed. The books are $30 each plus $3 shipping. Please email us at info@indyhonorflight.org with your contact information and which book you would like to have and we will get it in the mail as soon as we can. Payment may be made by mailing us a check or by clicking the “Donate” button on our website, just be sure to add your information in the “Special Instructions to seller” spot so we know what the donation is for! (please don’t send payment until we confirm a book is available for you, they go quickly-first come first served!

Please read through the upcoming events below and support the IHF with donations of your time, money and by spreading the word about what we do to everyone you know. Together we can make a difference in our Hoosier Heroes’ lives. We offer a sincere thanks for all who have done so and continue to make our work possible. Remember to thank a Veteran today and every day!

In service,
Dale True Chairman, Indy Honor Flight

Let’s Eat!

Veterans did you know we sponsor meals in four locations around the Central Indy area for any Veteran that has flown with us? Did you know that we also have guest speakers or entertainment at each meal? Click the link below and find the one closest to you and come out and break bread with us! Bring your Guardian too !

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information just click on the CALENDAR tab for information on all IHF Events around town!

Calling all Veterans! Who wants to be in the Downtown Indy Parade?

Who doesn’t love a parade? The Annual Downtown Indianapolis Veterans Day Parade will be Saturday, November 10, 2018. The parade starts at 12:00pm. Please contact Gary Lawrence gary.indyhonorflight@gmail.com if you’d like to participate! If you have a large, comfortable vehicle that could seat 3 Veterans, we may have room for you in the Parade! Contact Gary for all the information!

Shop Amazon and help IHF!

Only 60 days until Christmas! If you like to get your Christmas shopping done early why not help Indy Honor Flight out at the same time? Shop at Amazon and they will donate a portion of your purchase to us! Sign up for Amazon Smile and select IHF as the charity you support, that is all there is to it!

smile.amazon.com

Free Show – Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans by Lasting Impressions

Come out to Mile Race Center in Columbus IN on November 9th at 2:00pm for a tribute to honor our Veterans. Show is FREE to all Veterans.

Free Show – Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans by Lasting Impressions

Come out to North Vernons Park Theatre Civic Center on November 11th for a FREE show! Show starts at 3:00PM. Donations for Indy Honor Flight will be accepted.

FUNDRAISER – Tour of Ganassi Race Shop – Indy Car Team

Join us on Saturday 11/17/2018 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm for an inside look at one of Indy Cars top teams race shop. A $10 donation gets you a behind the scenes look at the high performance shop, the cars and even a few drivers!

IHF Out and About

  • October 28th Knights of Columbus Chili Cook off
  • Friday 11/9 Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans Columbus IN
  • Sunday 11/11 Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans North Vernon IN
  • Saturday November 10th Veterans Day Parade Downtown Indianapolis, IN
  • Ganassi Racing Open House Fundraiser November 17th – tours start at 1:00pm and end at 4:00pm, $10 donation.

IHF News September 2018

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Chairman’s Corner

Happy Fall, Y’all!

As we go into the fourth season of 2018 we are deep into the preparation work for our 28TH flight. We hope all of you will come join us the evening of October 20th at Plainfield High School to welcome home our newest group of Indy Honor Flight Alumni. Let’s fill the gym and let them know how much they are loved and appreciated; you know you want to be there and “stand on the curb”! Especially since we have found a whole group of “new” WWII and Korea Veterans since the May flight! It is pretty cool to be calling heroes in their late 80’s and 90’s “new”. The “kids” from Vietnam are showing up too, it looks like we will have over 1,000 Veterans on our waiting list by the first of 2019.

Speaking of waiting lists, as many of you have heard, our friends in Lafayette are closing up shop for the Honor Flight of Greater Lafayette after their October 16th flight. This will be their 22nd flight and we wish them the very best; they have been terrific partners with us over the years. We anticipate assuming their remaining Veteran applications for upcoming flights. We still have many details to work out, but this will expand our area of operation quite a bit. If you live to the northwest, we may have some new opportunities for you! We will let everyone know more about this as we move forward.

Indy Honor Flight has been blessed with several groups taking on fundraisers for us recently and we truly appreciate the hard work of these dedicated folks. Most of the groups we work with have contact with us from either a family member flying with us or a volunteer they know who talks about the Honor Flight experience. If you know of a civic organization, workplace or other group who might want to learn more about what we do, please put them in touch with us. We are thrilled to be able to go out and talk to groups, entities and individuals about who we are and what we do. Not only to do fundraising, but to find more Veterans who are not aware of our mission.

No one likes to talk about money when we could be talking about our Hoosier Heroes! We know all the charities have their hand out, especially as we approach the final quarter of the year. What we also know is the cost of our flights continues to increase from year to year and our fundraising has to keep up if we are to stay in the business of flying heroes. We recently got our price quote for 2019 and we will be paying over $10,000 more per flight. We are thankful for every dollar that comes our way and with a completely unpaid volunteer staff, every dollar goes right where it is supposed to! We hope you, your business partners, civic, church and school groups will consider Indy Honor Flight as a project to support.
Please support all of our fundraising efforts and share the events with family, friends and coworkers. We put all of our events on our Face Book page for easy access. If you have any questions you can contact us through the information at the bottom of the newsletter.

Our fantastic volunteers continue to amaze us with their hard work and dedication. If you have not volunteered, you may want to consider being a part of this elite group of selfless individuals. These are the folks that make the magic happen at all of our events. Everyone who attended the 2018 Reunion on August 26th got to see them in action. What a great opportunity for our Veterans to visit with each other again, thanks to all who made it possible. We posted some photos of the day on our Flikr page, you can access it from our website “Photo” page, just click on the “All Indy Honor Flight Photos” link. Or just click Here

We wish you a fantastic time adjusting to the cooler weather. Remember to thank a Veteran today for your freedom; every one of them worked to help you have it!

In service,
Dale True, Indy Honor Flight Chairman

Let’s Eat!

Veterans did you know we sponsor meals in four locations around the Central Indy area for any Veteran that has flown with us? Did you know that we also have guest speakers or entertainment at each meal? Click the link below and find the one closest to you and come out and break bread with us! Bring your Guardian too !

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information

MAIL CALL!!!!!!

Part of the plan for every flight is the collection of Mail Call, so if you will be kind enough to gather all of your writing partners and send us a bunch of great letters, cards and drawings we will be sure to get them delivered to the heroes on IHF Flight 28! This is a very special part of the flight, so please help us make it happen!

Please address to Any Veteran, please do not date the letter or card, please express your gratitude and appreciation! All mail call is due to IHF by October 12th. If you know a Veteran on the flight please put their name on the envelope.
You can send those to:

Indy Honor Flight
PO Box 10
Plainfield IN 46168

Shop Amazon and help IHF!

Only 86 days until Christmas! If you like to get your Christmas shopping done early why not help Indy Honor Flight out at the same time? Shop at Amazon and they will donate a portion of your purchase to us! Sign up for Amazon Smile and select IHF as the charity you support, that is all there is to it!

smile.amazon.com

FUNDRAISER – October 6th Hops and Vines Lucas Oil Raceway

This is an awesome event hosted by our friends with the Brownsburg Rotary Club and Dawson’s Too! The event is held at the Top Eliminator Club Pavilion at Lucas Oil Raceway. There will be wine and beer tasting, hors d’oeuvres, silent auction and a chance to visit with terrific people who support our mission. Please help spread the word to family, friends and co-workers-we want a standing-room only crowd! Tickets are available now and also will be available at the door; $65. To purchase tickets in advance please click Here

FUNDRAISER – Charity Bull Riding Contest – October 6th

We need folks to buy tickets and attend this benefit! We have a young lady who will be riding the bull for IHF! WYRZ is hosting this as a benefit for Hendricks County Non-profits!! Tickets are $20 can be bought by clicking Here

FUNDRAISER – Knights of Columbus Chili Cook Off! October 28th

3rd Annual Chili Cook Off to benefit Indy Honor Flight! This is always a fun event! Come out for some fellowship and some awesome Chili! Veterans and Kids 8 and under eat for FREE! Everyone else is $10. $200 Grand Prize for Chili Contest. Contact Gloria at 317-695-2020 or at gloria@northsidekofc.org by 10/20/18 to enter the chli contest. See you there !0/28/18, program starts at noon.

Free Show – Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans by Lasting Impressions

Come out to Mile Race Center in Columbus IN on November 9th at 2:00pm for a tribute to honor our Veterans. Show is FREE to all Veterans.

Free Show – Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans by Lasting Impressions

Come out to North Vernons Park Theatre Civic Center on November 11th for a FREE show! Show starts at 3:00PM. Donations for Indy Honor Flight will be accepted.

IHF Out and About

  • Saturday October 6th Hops and Vines Fundraiser, Lucas Oil Raceway
  • Saturday October 6th Charity Bull riding event
  • Saturday October 20th – IHF #28 Homecoming Plainfield High School
    • GROUND CREW THE SIGN UP FOR THE FLIGHT IS OUT!
    • CHECK YOUR EMAIL!!!!!
  • October 28th Knights of Columbus Chili Cook off
  • Friday 11/9 Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans Columbus IN
  • Sunday 11/11 Musical Tribute to Honor our Veterans North Vernon IN
  • Saturday November 10th Veterans Day Parade Downtown Indianapolis, IN
    • GROUND CREW LOOK FOR THE SIGN UP FOR THIS SOON!
  • Ganassi Racing Open House Fundraiser November 17th – More info to follow!

IHF News August 2018

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Chairman’s Corner

 

Greetings to all our supporters!

Indy Honor Flight is very grateful to all of you for your interest in and continued support of our work to honor our Veterans. We need a lot of support to make our events and flights run smoothly and you all step up every time to help. Having a community of support also shows our heroes not only how important they are, but how we value their service. As you read some of the history of what our military men and women accomplished it is truly humbling to be allowed to visit and serve them. The bravery, sacrifice and time spent away from their homes and families is truly remarkable.

IHF has been involved in many events, fundraisers and speaking engagements over the last few weeks with many more coming up. We have been honored to participate in golf scrambles, car shows, Fun Runs, the Ride Across Indiana bicycle trip and other events. All of these activities help us raise money for our flights and to get the word out to other Veterans who may not have heard about us. As you know, all of our Board members and other volunteers work for free, so all of these events are staffed by great people who donate many, many hours. Please watch our Face Book page for details on upcoming events and attend as many as you can!

We are in the process of setting up our October 20th Honor Flight, making calls to Veterans and getting our preparations in order. Please plan to attend the Homecoming event that evening at Plainfield High School, it will be a patriotic frenzy of love, honor and thanks.

We are always pleased to provide speakers to talk to civic groups about our mission. This helps reach others who may not be familiar with our work. We really appreciate all the groups who support us; not just with money, but also with time, volunteers and the opportunity to share our story.

We have our price quote for next year’s aircraft costs and once again there will be a significant cost increase per flight. We believe what we do is quite important and we have seen the life-changing impact this trip can have over 2,000 Indiana Veterans. If you have opportunities for fundraising, matching grants, donations through your workplace or other means of helping us fund our operations, please consider supporting IHF. We are very grateful for all those who have supported us in the past, do so today and we look forward to continued faithful support in the future. Our supporters are the very best, thank you!

We are looking forward to a fantastic wrap-up to summer and a terrific fall season. Please come out and volunteer, visit with us and, always, take the time to thank a Veteran for your freedom!

In service,

Dale True
Chairman, Indy Honor Flight

Let’s Eat!

Veterans did you know we sponsor meals in four locations around the Central Indy area for any Veteran that has flown with us? Did you know that we also have guest speakers or entertainment at each meal? Click the link below and find the one closest to you and come out and break bread with us! Bring your Guardian too !

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information

Thank you RAIN Team!

The annual Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) bicycle ride that occurred on July 21, 2018 was a HUGE success for IHF! Riders bike 160 miles from Terre Haute to Richmond in one day to raise money for the charity of their choice! Our team of 19 riders were able to raise a nice chunk of change to help us fly our Veterans. We are so proud of all of them and the team work and compassion they displayed with each other and the other RAIN riders along the route. Huge thank you to everyone that came out and cheered them on along the route! Special thaks to Tony Breeze for coordinating this event!

Shop Amazon and help IHF!

Shop at Amazon and help Indy Honor Flight at the same time! Sign up for Amazon Smile and select IHF as the charity you support, that is all there is to it!

smile.amazon.com

IHF Out and About

  • Avon Cruise In – Every Saturday starting May 5th in the Lowes Parking lot in Avon , IN
    • Classic Cars and Trucks and fellowship
    • Starts at 6:30pm till sundown
    • 50/50 Raffle to Benefit IHF
  • SAVE THE DATE – IHF 2018 Reunion 8/26/18 at Plainfield High School
    • Starts at 2pm ends at 5pm
  • Wednesday August 22nd – Viewing of the movie The Unknowns – Documentary about the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier . 6pm at Hinsey Brown Funeral Services in New Castle IN
  • Tuesday August 28th – Viewing of the movie The Unknowns – Documentary about the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier . 6pm at Wolf Theater in Greensburg IN
  • IHF #28 Homecoming Saturday October 20th Plainfield High School
  • October 28th Knights of Columbus Chili Cook off – SAVE THE DATE – More details to come!
    Veterans Day Parade Downtown Indianapolis, IN
  • Ganassi Racing Open House Fundraiser November 17th – More info to follow!

IHF News June 2018

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Chairman’s Corner

Hello, everyone!

We certainly hope the early heat has not worn you out already-the gardens, flowers and all are certainly enjoying this week’s rain! Please take good care to stay hydrated during the heat, we don’t want to hear about any of our beloved Veterans getting ill. We wish all of you a great summer and good times with family and friends.

Once again, we were able to wrap up our two spring flights in a very successful way. All of the Veterans have commented on what a great experience it was and that is music to our ears! Our volunteers did a great job of making our Veterans feel very special.

The second flight was a bit of a challenge as we used Decatur Central High School for the first time. The beautiful part was no one would ever know we were at a new location. Our Ground Crew made a new spot look easy and really kept things flowing very safely and smoothly. As always, we truly appreciate our amazing Green/Orange/Red shirts and all the hours they donate to help our Veterans. We cannot do what we do without the unpaid help from all!!!! Please visit the Photo page on our website (IHF Website) if you were not able to be there, our photographers have done another terrific job of capturing the whole event! Take a look at the Flight 27 pictures link, we guarantee you will be impressed.

Hats off to the Administrators and staff of Decatur Central High School, they worked overtime to really make us feel welcome. Everything we needed was provided in a very friendly and helpful way and we cannot thank them enough.
We have several events coming up; some fundraisers, Carmel Fest, the 4th of July events, our annual Reunion, the weekly Avon Cruise-In every Saturday evening, the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) and others we would love to have you attend and participate in. Please watch our Face Book page and your email for details on these and other events over the summer. We need your support!

We are thrilled to have found so many Veterans in the Indy area who have applications on file with us, but we are still looking for more, especially our oldest Veterans. We need to work with the WWII and Korea Veterans before they are too ill to be able to travel. If you know any older Veterans we would love to stop by to visit, explain our program to them and invite them on our next flight! Remember we fly in order of age and service dates. We want to fly ‘em all, it just takes time and money!

Speaking of our next flight, please save the date: Saturday, October 20, 2018 at Plainfield High School. Plan on having you, all of your family and friends there to welcome another plane load of heroes home! We will start making calls for this flight around the second week of August.

As the summer officially begins we with Indy Honor Flight are working to support our Hoosier Heroes. Please consider helping us do so in the way that is best for you; some give time, some give money, some give both. All of the support is welcome and goes directly to helping us fly more Veterans on a very special and rewarding day.

In service,
Dale True
Chairman, Indy Honor Flight

Let’s Eat!

Veterans did you know we sponsor meals in four locations around the Central Indy area for any Veteran that has flown with us? Did you know that we also have guest speakers or entertainment at each meal? Click the link below and find the one closest to you and come out and break bread with us! Bring your Guardian too !

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information

RAIN Fundraiser for IHF – CALLING ALL CYCLIST!!!!!!

The annual Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) bicycle ride will occur on July 21, 2018. The ride starts in Terre Haute and ends in Richmond…160 miles in ONE DAY! This annual event draws 1,500 or so cyclists, and Indy Honor Flight will be represented this year!!!

One of our IHF volunteers has formed an Indy Honor Flight Cycling Team to make the journey and raise money for Indy Honor Flight. Not all team members will ride the entire 160 miles…some will ride portions of it in “stages.” But many will ride the entire route. We’re looking for more riders to join the team! If you are a cyclist, or you know a cyclist who is interested in riding RAIN (the entire route or shorter stages), we need you! If you can pledge monetary support to a rider…we REALLY need YOU!!!

So, if you are:
1. Interested in participating as a rider, or
2. Interested in sponsoring/making a pledge for a rider

…please send an e-mail to: ihfrainfundraisinginfo@gmail.com

Team cycling jerseys and “support crew” shirts have been designed and are available for purchase from an external vendor. We’ll send shirt ordering information soon.

There will be an opportunity on the day of the ride to gather on the ride route at strategic locations and cheer on and encourage the riders as they pass. You can wear one of the team shirts and hold up IHF signs! Believe me…on a long ride like this, they really appreciate the support!

The IHF/RAIN Fundraising Coordinator will give you all the details you need about participating in and supporting the ride. This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved and give support to the team, the organization…and ultimately to our Veterans. So, send the e-mail and join the effort!

IHF Flight #27 Pictures

Whats all the fuss about? The pictures for IHF #27 have been loaded that’s what! Please click the link below to view them free of charge! Enjoy!

IHF #27 Official Pictures

IHF Out and About

  • Avon Cruise In – Every Saturday starting May 5th in the Lowes Parking lot in Avon , IN
    • Classic Cars and Trucks and fellowship
    • Starts at 6:30pm till sundown
    • 50/50 Raffle to Benefit IHF
  • Wings Over Indy – June 30th and July 1st
  • Come see us at Carmel Fest July 3rd and 4th!
  • Avon Freedom Run July 4th – volunteers needed!
    • Avon Freedom Run Volunteer Sign up
  • VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – Trash Clean up Downtown Fireworks July 4th
    • Trash Detail Downtown Indy July 4th Sign Up
  • SAVE THE DATE – IHF 2018 Reunion 8/19/18 at Decatur Central High School
  • IHF #28 Homecoming Saturday October 20th Plainfield High School
  • Ganassi Racing Open House Fundraiser November 17th – More info to follow!

IHF News – May 2018

Posted on by

Chairman’s Corner

 

IHF Supporters and volunteers-

Welcome to May in Indianapolis! So much is going on with the races, springtime chores, graduations and more, so we decided to have a Honor Flight on Memorial Day weekend! Not really, we know it is not the best timing, but we have to go when aircraft are available to charter. So even though there is a lot going on, please take the time to show up to welcome our heroes home on Saturday evening, May 26 at Decatur Central High School, 9pm! Yes, we are using a different facility due to a conflict with the graduation ceremonies at our normal venue. We would like to thank the folks at Decatur Central High School for being so wonderful and accommodating for us! We hope to see all of you “on the curb” and fill the gym to bursting with Red White and Blue!

If you have not looked at our Photo page on our website Indy Honor Flight in a while, you should! We have over 4,000 photos of our April 28th flight posted and our photographers have done another outstanding job of capturing the flight experience. Take time to look, you will be touched by the images of our heroes being loved and appreciated.

Our weekly involvement in the Avon Cruise-in has returned, so if you are in the mood to enjoy a nice evening of classic cars and fellowship while supporting IHF, please stop by the Lowes parking lot in Avon every Saturday from 6-9pm! It is a great time and some of these rides are outta-sight!

Another opportunity coming up is the Ride Across Indian (RAIN) bicycle ride fundraiser. The event is on July 21st, but you can get involved today. Even if you are not a bike rider, you can purchase a really cool looking bike jersey or shirt to show off your pride in the Indy Honor Flight! The details are listed below, please support this event and pledge or ride!

We attended the dedication of the new Veteran memorial in Hancock County last week and it is a beauty-stop by and see it. It was wonderful event and a terrific memorial for the New Palestine community.

Our heroes keep sending in more Veteran applications, we currently have more than 850 on our waiting list to fly. We are very excited by the interest in our program and want everyone to keep finding Veterans and sending in the applications. At the same time, we are searching for more donors and means of supporting the flights. Each of these flights cost nearly $100,000 and costs continue to increase. If you can donate or have ideas/contacts to help us raise funds, we would love to have the help. We do not want to disappoint even our Veteran heroes, please be generous with your tax-deductible donations!

We are so blessed to have great volunteers and board members who are always willing to step up and get the work done. All of our folks work for free, no one is paid a dime. The flights, visits to civic groups, churches, businesses, the speaking engagements, fundraising and all of what we do require a lot of time and effort. Thank you to each of those who help to honor our Hoosier Heroes.

Enjoy spring in Indiana and remember to tell a Veteran “Thanks for my Freedom” every chance you get.

In service,
Dale True, Indy Honor Flight Chairman

SOUTHSIDE LUNCH

The South-side lunch will have a very special guest speaker, Col. Steve Wilkerson (retired). Col. Wilkerson was a load-master on one of the “Hanoi Taxis” bringing our POWs home at the end of the Vietnam War. Please join us Saturday June 9th at Greenwood Village. Click the link below for more information, address and start time.

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information

RAIN Fundraiser for IHF – CALLING ALL CYCLIST!!!!!!

The annual Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) bicycle ride will occur on July 21, 2018. The ride starts in Terre Haute and ends in Richmond…160 miles in ONE DAY! This annual event draws 1,500 or so cyclists, and Indy Honor Flight will be represented this year!!!

One of our IHF volunteers has formed an Indy Honor Flight Cycling Team to make the journey and raise money for Indy Honor Flight. Not all team members will ride the entire 160 miles…some will ride portions of it in “stages.” But many will ride the entire route. We’re looking for more riders to join the team! If you are a cyclist, or you know a cyclist who is interested in riding RAIN (the entire route or shorter stages), we need you! If you can pledge monetary support to a rider…we REALLY need YOU!!!

So, if you are:
1. Interested in participating as a rider, or
2. Interested in sponsoring/making a pledge for a rider

…please send an e-mail to: ihfrainfundraisinginfo@gmail.com

Team cycling jerseys and “support crew” shirts have been designed and are available for purchase from an external vendor. We’ll send shirt ordering information soon.

There will be an opportunity on the day of the ride to gather on the ride route at strategic locations and cheer on and encourage the riders as they pass. You can wear one of the team shirts and hold up IHF signs! Believe me…on a long ride like this, they really appreciate the support!

The IHF/RAIN Fundraising Coordinator will give you all the details you need about participating in and supporting the ride. This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved and give support to the team, the organization…and ultimately to our Veterans. So, send the e-mail and join the effort!

IHF Flight #27 Homecoming

You are cordially invited to attend the Homecomings for IHF #27. Veterans call your Guardians and tell them you want to come! Guardians call your Veterans and make sure they aren’t busy! We would love to see you!

Saturday May 26th at Decatur Central High Shcool. The Event starts at 9:00PM

Decatur Central High School
5251 Kentucky Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46221

Follow the signs for parking

IHF Out and About

  • IHF #27 Saturday May 26th – Decatur Central High School, 9:00PM
  • Avon Cruise In – Every Saturday starting May 5th in the Lowes Parking lot in Avon , IN
    • Classic Cars and Trucks and fellowship
    • Starts at 6:30pm till sundown
    • 50/50 Raffle to Benefit IHF
  • IHF 2018 Reunion – Details to come soon!
  • IHF #28 Saturday October 20th Plainfield High School
  • Ganassi Racing Open House Fundraiser November 17th – More info to follow!

IHF News April 2018

Posted on by

Chairman’s Corner

Happy Spring to all IHF Volunteers and supporters!

We are thrilled to see the tinge of green showing up as it means we are getting very close to our first flight of 2018. Less than 2 weeks to go! We have a terrific group of WWII, Korea and Vietnam Veterans lined up to go see their memorials and have a long-deserved day of thanks and honor.

Our volunteers have filled all the needed spots for the flight and our Bus captains have worked an enormous number of hours to interview veterans and take care of many other details. We are so very proud of our dedicated volunteers and they way they take care of our Veteran heroes.
On March 29th we participated in the first local celebration of Vietnam Veteran’s Day at Plainfield High School. Over 400 Vietnam veterans attended along with hundreds more family members and other folks who wanted to say thank you and welcome home. Almost 50 IHF volunteers worked their magic to make sure every veteran felt welcome and the event went smoothly.

Indy Honor Flight is much more than just our flight schedule-we are constantly working with other groups and events to do our part to honor the U.S.A.’s service men and women. In addition to providing speakers at various church, civic and corporate groups we host our meals each month to allow our Veterans who have flown with us the chance to visit and spend time with their comrades-in-arms. It is very rewarding to see the bonds of friendship develop between the various service branches and different generations of warriors.

All of our fundraising, training, meals and flight information can be found on our website calendar. We also post very regularly to our Facebook page, please check there often for updates. If you have a question you cannot get answered on those sites, please send an email to Info@IndyHonorFlight.org and one of our volunteers will get back with you.

Please continue to spread the word about what we do, there are still those who have not heard of the Honor Flight. Finding our next veterans to honor is a job we can all help with! We look forward to seeing all of you at the Homecoming event Saturday, April 28th, Plainfield High School, 9PM.

In service,
Dale True, IHF Chairman

Westside Breakfast

This months featured meal is the Westside breakfast. This occurs the first Saturday of each month at is held at the Westsdie Garden Plaza in Avon. This is a free breakfast. 40 guests enjoyed food and fellowship as well as a special presentation from our very own Chariman, Dale True. Dale shared a video about a son that followed his fathers footsteps through WWII and his time as a POW. He then reminded each Veteran that they have a story to tell and they should not be shy in sharing those stories. Breakfast ended with the traditional singing of God Bless America. Special thanks to all the volunteers that came out to assist!

Link to IHF Monthly Meal Information

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How many veterans normally go on a flight? 89
  2. Where do I send Mail Call for the next Flight? Indy Honor Flight, PO Box 10, Plainfield IN 46168
  3. How does a veteran sign up? Complete and mail a Veteran Application (Found on our website)
  4. How are veterans selected for the flight? By service dates and age, the most senior go first.
  5. Does a veteran have to sign up more than once? No, we keep applications on file until space is available.
  6. We do not have a family member to travel as a Guardian, can our Veteran still go? Absolutely! We have several hundred volunteers on a waiting list to travel with our heroes.
  7. Why does the Guardian have to pay to fly? We are 100% funded by donations. The flights are expensive and in order to provide the trip at no cost to the veteran we require the Guardian to help pay for some of the flight costs.
  8. What do you see while in Washington D.C.? As much as we can squeeze in to a single day! We visit the top 3 veteran memorials; WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, along with the Lincoln memorial. We take a driving tour through downtown D.C. to see many historical buildings and sites. We also travel to Arlington National Cemetery to observe the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. It is a busy day!
  9. How can we help Indy Honor Flight? Help us by telling veterans about us, volunteering your time and by making donations to keep us flying.

A visit to our webpage can assist with more Click Here for our website

IHF Flight #26 Homecoming

You are cordially invited to attend the Homecomings for our Spring Fights. Veterans call your Guardians and tell them you want to come! Guardians call your Veterans and make sure they aren’t busy! We would love to see you!

Saturday April 28th at Plainfield High School. The Event starts at 9:00PM

Plainfield High School
1 Red Pride Drive
Plainfield IN 46168

Our Volunteers are amazing!

We have a very dedicated and passionate group of volunteers. They wear Red, Orange, White and Green shirts. They show up early and go home late. They enter information in our databases, man our phone and email, fix our wheelchairs, interview Veterans and Guardians, take all the beautiful photos of each flight, write letters, stuff envelopes, load and unload trailers, they ensure each Veteran and Guardian is medically safe. They stand at the curb, at the doors, in the hall and in the gym. Our Volunteers make our flights 100% possible and they do all this out of gratitude for what the Veterans we honor sacrificed for us. On behalf of the Board of Directors we thank each and every volunteer that makes Indy Honor Flight happen. We could not do this without you! THANK YOU!!!!!

IHF Out and About

  • IHF #27 Saturday May 26th – Decatur Central High School, 9:00PM
  • Avon Cruise In – Every Saturday starting May 5th in the Lowes Parking lot in Avon , IN
    • Classic Cars and Trucks and fellowship
    • Starts at 6:30pm till sundown
    • 50/50 Raffle to Benefit IHF
    • Ground Crew look for the sign up for this to come out this weekend
  • IHF 2018 Reunion – Details to come soon!
  • IHF #28 Saturday October 20th Plainfield High School
  • Ganassi Racing Open House Fundraiser November 17th – More info to follow!

IHF News January 28, 2018

Posted on by

Chairman’s Corner

Happy New(er) Year, everyone!

We hope you and yours are doing well after the deep freeze of 2018. Today the snow has melted and you can go outdoors without too many layers and for that we are grateful! We have a lot going on in 2018, so let’s talk about some of our plans. We hope you will plan to make Indy Honor Flight a part of your volunteer work this year, we certainly can use your help.

2018 Flights: We are in the process of selecting our flight staff for the April 28 and May 26 flights and let me tell you, everyone is ready to go! We will begin making calls to Veterans the first week of February, so if you know of a Veteran who has not submitted an application, please get one in the mail to us ASAP. If you have a Veteran who is not sure they want to go with us, please let us know and we will be happy to meet with him or her in person and explain the experience to them. We have good luck in convincing the stubborn (and not just because some of us are more stubborn)!

Speaking of flights, please remember there are three other Honor flight Hubs in the state; Ft. Wayne, Lafayette and Evansville all work hard to locate and fly veterans. Chicago IL, Louisville KY, Cincinnati and Dayton OH are very active hubs. For a variety of reasons, we always recommend Veterans fly with the hub closest to where they live. The most important thing is to find the oldest Veterans and get them on a flight before it is too late.

Along those lines, it seems every winter we are notified of too many of our IHF Veterans passing. All of these great men and women are so very special to us and it is always hard to deal with their loss. Recently, Harold Harrington, a 92 year old WWII US Army D-Day veteran passed away. Harold was well known to many of our IHF volunteers as he was quite healthy and helped IHF with several presentations to schools and other events. Since his flight I got to know Harold and spent some time listening to his story. During his service he experienced some God-awful things and was wounded in combat. Despite his history, this gentleman was extremely positive all of the time, outgoing, never met a stranger and always greeted everyone with a smile. It is the attitude of Harold and so many Veterans just like him that makes what we do so very rewarding. These men and women are able to overcome severe hardships and remain terrific examples for our younger generations to come. Indy Honor Flight salutes Harold and all of his fallen brothers and sisters; thank you for teaching all of so much!

Mark your calendars! On March 29th, Senator Joe Donnelly will host a “Welcome Home” celebration for all Vietnam Veterans (serving November 01, 1955-May 15, 1975) at Plainfield High School, beginning at 6PM. Last year the 29th of March was nationally designated as Vietnam Veteran’s Day. IHF has been asked to assist with this wonderful event; there will be a Veteran Resource Fair at 6PM with the ceremony beginning at 7PM. Indy Honor Flight will need volunteers to help staff the event and we will have a table in the Resource Fair to help us find more veterans who have not flown with us. Look for more details and a sign-up in your email later in February.

Due to the significant increase in aircraft charter cost for 2018, the IHF Board of Directors has authorized our first-ever increase in our Guardian Donation Fee. Effective with the April flight the cost of escorting a Veteran on the flight will increase to $500. We are working hard to evaluate all expenses, but some costs increases cannot be avoided. Remember 100% of all donations go directly to our operating expenses, not a single volunteer is paid a dime!

We are working with great groups to organize some fundraisers, the Avon Cruise-In Car Show will be going on later this spring and we are working on hosting a motorcycle ride. It sounds great to think of warm spring evenings right now, doesn’t it? If you or your group would like to work with us to create a fundraiser we would be happy to talk with you. We also love to go out and share what the IHF is about; if you have a group who would like to hear about us please let us know. This is one of the best ways to find more Veterans!

Stay warm, many thanks to all of you for your support of Indy Honor Flight.
In service,
Dale True
Chairman, Indy Honor Flight

DID YOU KNOW?

We need a few more signatures please share with your friends and family! Indy Honor Flight has begun the process of applying for a license plate from the Indiana BMV to benefit our organization. The process requires us to obtain 500 signatures from motorists who would purchase the plates when they become available. We submit the necessary paperwork in April 2018. The plates would then be available beginning in 2019. Indy Honor Flight would receive $25 from EVERY plate that is purchased! Since you have to buy plates anyway, why not support Indy Honor Flight while you’re at it?
If you, your family, your co-workers, etc. would like to sign the petition, it’s attached below, along with a rough draft of what the plate may look like when it’s issued. The petition can be returned to us at:

Indy Honor Flight
PO Box 10
Plainfield IN 46168

Click here to download the petition:
Petition for IHF Plate

Let’s Eat!

We offer a free meal to our Veterans that have flown with us. We have breakfast, lunch or meal on all sides of town once a month. Check out our calendar for dates, times and locations. Spouses and Guardians are welcome too!

This is a recent photo from our newest meal, the North Side Meal. Photo credits: Morrie Turner

Checkout out our website for more info on all of our meals!
click here: Indy Honor Flight Website

SAVE THE DATES!

  • Thursday March 29th – Vietnam Veterans Ceremony
    • Veterans fair starts at 6pm; Ceremony at 7pm
    • Plainfield High School
    • Ground Crew look for the sign up to come out late February
    • Friday April 27th – Meet/Greet Plainfield High School
  • Saturday April 28th – Flight #26 Plainfield High School
  • Saturday May 5th – Avon Cruise In!
    • Lowes Parking lot in Avon
    • Every Saturday night starting May thru September
    • Classic cars, free to public
    • Half the proceeds from 50/50 go to Indy Honor Flight
  • Friday May 25th – Meet/Greet TBD
  • Saturday May 26th – Flight/Homecoming TBD

IHF News December 23, 2017

Posted on by

Chairman’s Corner

Merry Christmas to all!

The Christmas season is very special for everyone who is either a child or has a child-like heart! We know many of our volunteers and Veterans enjoy the feeling of child-like wonder this time of year, whether it is from the glow of Christmas lights, the smells and tastes of special foods or the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. All of us at Indy Honor Flight would like to wish all of our families, friends and Veterans a very happy Christmas and a blessed New Year. ‘Tis the season to enjoy so many things our country has to offer; remember to thank the Veterans who fought to insure our freedom to give thanks and celebrate as you choose!

As we look forward to the 2018 Honor Flights we have many things to be happy about and a few challenges to deal with. We just signed the contract for our next two flights; April 28 and May 26th will be our 26th and 27th Honor Flights! Please mark these dates on your calendar and be ready to help honor our next planeloads of Veterans!

On the happy side, we have a waiting list of over 800 Veterans who are anxious to enjoy our trip of honor and thanks! This is a great thing and we are honored to have all of these heroes wanting to travel with us.

We are, of course, still actively looking for our oldest veterans, those from WWII and Korea whose time to travel may be drawing short. If you or anyone you come into contact with these men and women please encourage them to get us a Veteran application as soon as possible. The application is available on our website, or we will be happy to mail one to any Veteran who would like to submit one. We will begin our process for the April flight in early February and we do not want to miss a single one of our most senior Veterans. Some of these folks are hesitant to commit to the trip, if you know one who might be concerned, please contact us and we will be happy to meet with them and explain everything in person.

On the challenge side, we had a substantial increase in cost for our aircraft in 2018. Cost increases are a part of life; we all deal with them everyday, but this hits donation-based organizations like us pretty hard. If you are interested in making a donation before the end of the year for 2017 tax purposes, we would greatly appreciate your funds. Rest assured the money will go directly to flying our heroes; no one in our organization gets paid a dime!

We have been blessed with terrific generosity for the over five years our hub has been in operation. Thank you to all of the businesses and individuals who have supported us so faithfully. Without your help we cannot honor our heroes, these trips can mean the world to our Veterans.

We received a note from a family member of a WWII Veteran not long ago that says an awful lot about what a single day of honor and thanks can do:

“I wanted to let you know that Dad passed away this week. Please do not be sad, the Honor Flight experience made his last two years incredible! When we first talked to Dad about going he refused. He was alone in his room most of the time, he did not involve himself in the activities with the home, and he was basically sitting around waiting to die. After some talks with the Bus Captain and encouragement from our family, he finally said he would go.

Boy, what a difference! After the trip he came back a new man. He never met a stranger, he spoke about the trip to anyone who would listen and actively sought out other Veterans to encourage them to submit an application. He started going on the activity bus with other seniors and really started to live again! Please accept my family’s thanks for what you did for our Dad. It was hard to believe the trip can mean so much, but we saw it first hand! Blessings to your group from a grateful family.”

Nothing I can add to that, except none of this happens without your help; thank you!

Take the time to enjoy your time with family and friends, rest up, because we need to “see you on the curb” in 2018!

In service,

Dale True
Chairman, Indy Honor Flight

Thank you!

We just wanted to send out a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to our Groundcrew aka Greenshirts! Everything we do for our Veterans would not be possible without our loyal and devoted Groundcrew! From the curb to the gym and back again you all have shown up, with smiles and hugs and gratitude for our Veterans. We cannot thank you enough for all that you do! May you all have a Merry Christams and a Happy New Year! See you on the curb in 2018!

Kelly and Maria

DID YOU KNOW?

Indy Honor Flight has begun the process of applying for a license plate from the Indiana BMV to benefit our organization. The process requires us to obtain 500 signatures from motorists who would purchase the plates when they become available. We submit the necessary paperwork in April 2018. The plates would then be available beginning in 2019. Indy Honor Flight would receive $25 from EVERY plate that is purchased! Since you have to buy plates anyway, why not support Indy Honor Flight while you’re at it?
If you, your family, your co-workers, etc. would like to sign the petition, it’s attached below, along with a rough draft of what the plate may look like when it’s issued. The petition can be returned to us at:
Indy Honor Flight
PO Box 10
Plainfield IN 46168

Click here to download the petition:
Petition for IHF Plate

Let’s Eat!

We offer a free meal to our Veterans that have flown with us. We have breakfast, lunch or meal on all sides of town once a month. Check out our calendar for dates, times and locations. Spouses and Guardians are welcome too!

Indy Honor Flight Website

Year-end Donation Time!

Just a reminder that we are 100% donation funded. If you are looking for a good cause to make a year end donation to please consider Indy Honor Flight. You can donate through our website at Indy Honor Flight click on DONATE.

SAVE THE DATES!

Friday April 27th – Meet/Greet Plainfield High School
Saturday April 28th – Flight #26 Plainfield High School

Friday May 25th – Meet/Greet TBD
Saturday May 26th – Flight/Homecoming TBD