Originally published in 1996
Alfred ‘Bubba’ Thomas is one of 10 winners of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times’ Jefferson Volunteer Award, sponsored by the American Institute for Public Service, a national organization that recognizes volunteers. This is the fifth year the newspaper has sponsored the awards locally.
Since 1993, Thomas has taken his Beechcraft Sundowner on numerous missions of mercy flying and landing to help the ill and injured, racking up nearly 165 hours in the air and covering more than 23,000 miles. Thomas helps operate Angel Flight of South Texas, along with Jim Dering of Ingleside, Gary Harding of Mathis and Fletcher Kelly of Sinton. This volunteer group handles a variety of emergency requests. The cost to the passengers? Nothing, although sometimes people pay for the fuel.
Thomas has flown a man with a broken back, auto accident victims, people needing cancer treatments, transplant recipients, terminally ill patients and seriously ill children.
This is a powerful example of how general aviation provides a means of contributing humanitarian service to our communities.