Flights of Gratitude president and found Royce Repka, of Lansdale. Photo by James Short.
An area combat veteran is taking to the skies to help his military brothers and sisters in need.
Royce Repka, of Lansdale, spent six years in the United States Army as a counter-intelligence agent, being deployed twice to Iraq and earning a combat action badge following his second tour. In the years following his honorable discharge, Repka secured his pilot’s license and later attended Liberty University, where one of his classes had a focus on nonprofit aviation.
“The course helped me realize that I could fill a need specifically for veterans,” Repka said.
With inspiration in hand, Repka launched his nonprofit, Flights of Gratitude, in 2019, and they have since partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Veterans Affairs, Angel Flights, and Veteran Airlift Command to provide flights for veterans who need to travel long distances for medical treatment.
“Our mission is to fly veterans and their family members to medical appointments,” Repka said. “We save them the hassle of driving and the time commitment, and we also offer them very personalized services by picking them up at local airports.”
Repka, who works professionally as a first officer and pilot with Piedmont Airlines, has his plane hangered at the Doylestown Airport, and said his nonprofit has been flying two to three missions per year, reaching as far as Virginia, Ohio, and Maine in the process. On Monday morning, he flew into Boston to pick up a veteran who needed transportation to the Elmira Veterans Clinic in New York, then ended his six-hour flight touching back down in Doylestown in the evening.
“They can focus on getting well, getting the treatment they need, and they don’t have to worry about the transportation aspect of it,” Repka said. “It’s really great.”
With several years and roughly a dozen flights under his belt, Repka is now looking to expand his company in an effort to reach more veterans in need. Flights of Gratitude currently relies on mostly personal donations, but Repka said they’re hoping to gain more corporate sponsorships in the near future.
“Our current mission at Flights of Gratitude is to grow our nonprofit,” Repka said. “We want to draw in sponsors, so we can reach more veterans and accomplish more missions.”
For more information and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.FlightsofGratitude.org. You can also follow them on Facebook here.
Check out our video feature on Repka and Flights of Gratitude below.
