Recording thanks
Sisters helped by medical flights give back with role in airline videoBy JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer, jschramm@minotdailynews.com
Article Photos
Fact Box
Donated flier miles serve kids with medical needs
KidCares is a program of Northwest Airlines that uses donated frequent flier miles to provide free medical flights for children.
The program is open to youth age 18 or younger who need medical treatment not available in their home communities. A medical facility or nonprofit organization must apply to the program on the child's behalf. Families aren't eligible if their insurance covers travel, and the program only is good on Northwest Airlines flights.
Priority is given to families with financial hardship and aid is limited by the donated frequent flier miles available.
People can donate by calling 1-800-327-2881. To learn more about the program or find out how to apply, call 1-612-726-4206 or log onto (www.nwa.com/kidcares).
Jacqueline and Laura Cunningham are busy college students with little spare time for flying off to Minneapolis for a video shoot.
But the video that Northwest Airlines had planned was special, and the airline was willing to go out of its way to accommodate Jacqueline's especially intense schedule. So last Oct. 6, the Cunningham sisters traveled to Minneapolis to participate in a video promoting KidCares, a medical flight program that made such a difference in their lives.
Jacqueline Cunningham, 21, had been diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 11, and Laura Cunningham, 19, needed ear surgery when she was 9 and heart surgery when she was 16. Both benefited from frequent flier miles donated to KidCares. They had used those miles to attend medical appointments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn..
Jacqueline Cunningham said making the video was a way to say thanks.
"It was kind of a way of just giving back," she said.
Northwest Airlines created the video to be shown before a large audience at a managers' conference, said Julie Romero, KidCares coordinator, Minneapolis. The 9-minute video featured representatives of a variety of charitable organizations that have been recipients of programs supported by donated World Perk frequent flier miles and a match from Northwest Airlines.
The video states that since 1992, 700 million miles have been donated to Northwest Airlines' charity programs, including 111 million miles to KidCares. The airline has given away more than 10,000 tickets.
The airline might show the video at World Perk elite events around the United States, Romero said.
"We are so pleased with how it turned out," she said.
The video features past and current recipients of KidCares, including the Cunninghams and two other children.
Romero said she queried a number of families from KidCares' database in a search for the right stories for the video. The Cunninghams stood out because of their experience with KidCares from its inception and their positive medical results. Romero said the program also looked for enthusiasm like that shown by the Cunningham family.
Sherry Cunningham of Minot said her family wants to get the word out about KidCares because of the need for more donations. Due to limited World Perks available, KidCares now restricts recipients to a one-time use of the program.
"It's a great program," Laura Cunningham said. "It could really help a family out that needed to go to the doctor and couldn't afford it. Especially, it helped my sister and my family."
The Cunninghams began traveling to Rochester in February 1999 for Laura. Laura Cunningham suffered ear infections from early in life, and in April 1999 underwent surgery for a tumor in her middle ear. She also needed donor cartilage and tissue.
Around the same time, the family started making the trip for Jacqueline's arthritis.
"We were going by car but it took so long and Jackie was missing so much school," Sherry Cunningham said.
It also was so expensive to miss work and incur the cost of hotels that Sherry and her husband, James, questioned whether they would be able to continue to make the trip. The Cunninghams looked into airfare but that also was expensive.
Then they learned about KidCares. Through KidCares, the Cunninghams were able to travel to Mayo and return in a single day.
"We were so thankful because 'where would we have been?'" Sherry Cunningham said. "Not only was Northwest Airlines so helpful but we had the people of our community who were so very helpful."
Many people from the Minot area donated their World Perks after learning of the Cunninghams' situation.
Sherry Cunningham said the community went beyond World Perk donations to support the family. Staff at Anytime Fitness donated their time to assist Laura Cunningham with lifting weights to strengthen her heart.
On her 16th birthday, Laura Cunningham required surgery for a congenital heart defect that had worsened and was causing her to lose consciousness at times. The difficult surgery was successful but left her subject to seizures.
Sherry Cunningham said the girls' employers looked out for them, and fellow employees brushed up on first aid.
Jacqueline Cunningham worked at Royal Fork and she remembers how accommodating the business was about her work schedule when she was feeling too ill to work. When she held fund-raisers for the arthritis foundation, the restaurant would help her promote it by putting up her flyers.
Cunningham served as the 2005 Juvenile Arthritis March youth ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation North Central Chapter.
On the video, Jacqueline and Laura Cunningham talk about being able to fly back and forth to see their doctors. They join others in the video in thanking Northwest Airlines.
Jacqueline also presents Laura with a teddy bear like the ones she had received from KidCares when they sent out reminders of her appointments at Mayo. Since Laura's appointments were emergency care, she never received any appointment reminders or any bears.
Laura Cunningham now attends Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont. She hopes to be able to permanently discontinue her seizure medicine soon.
Jacqueline Cunningham attends Williston State College, where she is studying nursing. Her arthritis is in remission. She no longer takes medicine and maintains her status through techniques such as diet and heat therapy.
She looks to complete her licensed practical nursing degree in July and then pursue her registered nursing degree. She also plans to enroll at Dickinson State College for her bachelor's degree.
"One of the biggest reasons I wanted to go into nursing was because I had been in the hospital so much when I was growing up," Jacqueline Cunningham said. "The doctors would come and go, but the people who were always there were the nurses."
Her goal is to become a pediatrics nurse.
"I love working with kids," said Jacqueline, who has worked with the after-school programs in Minot and Williston.
Laura Cunningham said she's grateful for the good that's come out of the trials.
"I am just thankful that my family is able to stick together and help each other out in all the times we were sick. I think it brought us closer together," she said.
