In October of 2011 my dad went in for gall bladder surgery, only to find out that he had been misdiagnosed once they opened him up finding an expansive cancerous tumor on his pancreas that was unable to be removed. Prognosis given that he had 7 months to live.
I was living in Santa Monica, while he was in Michigan and I had to figure out how to spend as much time with him as possible. Before he died.
I began traveling back and forth to see him at least once a month. This went on for six months, and during this time there was plenty of time spent alone on airplanes reflecting on life.
One Sunday after returning home from a weekend with my dad, I was sitting in my backyard when I had an idea.
Did anything out there exist that allowed frequent flyer miles to be donated to those less fortunate who may be in a similar situation? Without the same means, was everyone able to have the intimate conversations that I was having with my dad? Would they, at best, only be able to afford to attend the funeral from out of town?
After posting the idea online, the ideas and support came pouring in.
Nothing like that existed yet, and there were clearly others that had experienced what he was going through. It was then that he knew he needed to fill that void. I was able to show my dad the early beginnings of the organization on one of my last trips home and went as far as legally adding dad's initials to the name of the non-profit.
Currently, The Extra Mile seeks to collect unused frequent flyer miles, as well as monetary donations, either of which is then donated to people in need of traveling to visit loved ones terminally ill with cancer.
I run this organization by myself as a passion project, but hope to work with volunteers and corporate partners in the future.
My Story