As the sun began to rise, supplies were loaded into cargo space and secured for takeoff. Partner Brett Hunter jumped into the cockpit as his four passengers prepared for a busy week ahead. But they weren’t heading to property visits or acquisition tours. This flight was headed directly to help victims of Hurricane Ian.
The flight was the second relief trip Brett flew within the last week, as The Connor Group partnered with the Cincinnati non-profit Matthew 25: Ministries.
“These people need a hand up, and right now, this is just the right thing to do,” Brett said.
Matthew 25: Ministries is distributing essentials to hurricane victims and helping with services like laundry, ice and mobile charging throughout affected areas. Due to the widespread damages, Matthew 25 is committed to being on the ground, providing help for a prolonged duration as the area works to recover.
That’s where The Connor Group stepped in.
“We have a long-standing relationship with the folks at Matthew 25,” said partner Ryan Ernst. “They’re an elite disaster-relief organization. We’re pretty culturally, philosophically and operationally aligned.
“When a large-scale disaster of this nature happens, they know they can call on us.”
Before the hurricane had even made landfall, Ryan had connected with Matthew 25’s head of operations. Within days Brett had a plan in place.
Brett and the flight department provided two roundtrips from Florida to Matthew 25: Ministries’ Disaster Response Team. The first flight was this past Saturday, helping rotate in fresh crews on the ground quickly.
A crew of four loaded up Wednesday morning, ready to relieve an additional eight workers in Florida while delivering additional supplies.
“We are so grateful for the generosity of The Connor Group,” says Matthew 25: Ministries’ CEO, Tim Mettey. “The support we are receiving allows us to bring supplies and rotate refreshed staff members in and out of the disaster area, which helps ensure that our Team is operating at 100 percent – 100 percent of the time and is delivering much-needed resources most efficiently so that we can help as many people in need as possible.”
Our flight department was excited at the opportunity to raise their hands and help others during an incredibly difficult time.
“I wouldn’t say it’s going above and beyond,” Brett said. “It comes back to living our core values and loving thy neighbor. If The Connor Group can volunteer the plane, we can volunteer our time.”
The Connor Group has done similar relief work in Haiti, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.