Alabama
Kate Duncan Smith DAR School

Alaska
Eagle River Boys and Girls Club of Alaska
Food Bank of Alaska
Team Alaska

Arizona
Empowerment Through Sports
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Go with the Flow

California
Assistance League
River Oaks Center for Children
Hugs and Bags
Mother’s Against Drunk Driving
San Diego Regional Fire Foundation
Crisis Support Services of Alameda County
Antelope Valley Partners for Health
San Francisco LGBT Center
Oakland LGBT Center
San Francisco -Marin Food Bank
Eat, Learn, Play Foundation
Urban Angels San Francisco

Colorado
The True Blue Foundation
All Aboard Animal Rescue

Connecticut
Julia’s Wings Foundation

Delaware
Food Bank of Delaware

District of Columbia
Community of Hope

Florida
Zebra Youth
United We Age
The Sharing Center
Family Resources Center of Southwest Florida
Childnet
CATDOGS

Georgia
The Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project – Sunlit Earth

Hawaii
Parents and Children Together
Kapiolani Health Foundation

Idaho
Rays for Rare

Illinois
Brain Research Foundation
Go with the Flow

Indiana
Spencer Pride
Angels Anonymous of Indiana
Special Olympics Plane Pull

Kansas
Kids TLC

Kentucky
Hindman Settlement School

Louisiana
Faith House
Hearts of Hope
Hospice of Acadiana
Monroe VFW
Pilots for Patients

Massachusetts
Catie’s Closet

Michigan
Operation Good Cheer
Daughters of the American Revolution
Little Mews

Minnesota
Lissa’s Legacy
Crescent Cove
360 Communities
National Kidney Foundation
Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies
Toys for Towns
MN Ace Camp
Ten Thousand Books
Lakeview Cheer Boosters
Finnegan’s Community Fund
Farmington High School Theater Booster Club

Missouri
Our Little Haven

Nevada
Help of Southern Nevada
Three Square
Project 150

New Hampshire
Girls, Inc
Nashua Children’s Home
Family Promise of Southern NH
Merrimack Robotics Boosters
End 68 hours of Hunger

New Jersey
Emergency Ready Project
Boy Scouts of Northern New Jersey
Just One Neighborhood Program

New York
Branches Long Island
Island Harvest
The Book Fairies
Camp Good Days
Center for Advocacy/Support/ Transformation

North Carolina
First Ward
Friends of Hamlet
Parkton Presbyterian Church
Crossnore Communities for Children

Ohio
Toys for Tots
Downs on the Farm
Honor Flight
Sylvania Youth Hockey
American Hero Hunt
Boys and Girls Club of Lorain County

Oklahoma
Challenge Air

Oregon
Toy and Joy Makers
Schoolhouse Supplies

Pennsylvania
Toys for Tots
Cuddle Me
Alpha Bravo Canine

Puerto Rico
Hogar Cuna San Cristobal

Rhode Island
Children’s Friend RI

South Carolina
Justin Pepper House
Blissful Dreams

Tennessee
OUTMemphis
Project K9 Hero
Hope House of Tennessee
Forrest Spence Fund

Texas
Riding Unlimited Inc.
Texas Oncology Foundation
The Montrose Center
Houston Food Bank
We Defy Foundation
Kids Matter International
Montana Vista Elementary School Backpack Program
BEAR… BE A Resource for CPS Kids
El Paso Children’s Hospital Foundation

Utah
Utah Food Bank

Vermont
Heart of Winooski Foundation

Virginia
Special Olympics VA
Mobile Hope

Washington
The Jonah Project
Special Operations Forces Charity Golf
Partners in Careers
Northport American Legion
The Storehouse Food Bank
Communities in Schools of Washington State
Ronald McDonald House
St.Francis House
Multicare Breast Cancer Walk

Wisconsin
The Salvation Army of Manitowoc County

American Airlines
Atlanta TRACON (A80) NATCA
NATCA National
Daniel Albo
Clarence Cadenhead
Ashley and Annie Olsen
The Rhodes Family
Boston ARTCC (ZBW) NATCA
United Airlines

Butch and Betty Cooper
Joshua Hollands
Kristen Laubach
John and Illeana Olinger
David Ramano
Fort Worth ARTCC (ZFW) NATCA

Spokane ATCT/TRACON (GEG) NATCA

Scott Fineron
Tyler Longpine
Brad and Kristena Starkey
Scott Nagy
John and Andrea Orr
Bill Statz
Travis Weber
EPOS
O’Hare ATCT (ORD) NATCA
New York TRACON (N90) NATCA
Harrisburg ATCT/TRACON (MDT) NATCA
Memphis ARTCC (ZME) NATCA

Kim Beckett
Kelly Belless
Jason Boyde
Brian Canales
Jimmy Clouse
Devin Carlisto
Cody Cooper
Natalie Foster
Lisa Fulford
Jamaal Haltom
Adam Humpal
Anita Johnson
Kristen and Steve Lewandowski
Miguel Lluch
Michael Locklear
Aaron McCrea
Kyle McHugh
Suzanne McLean
Lee Moore
Scot Morrison
Alex and Sam Navarro
Brittany Nortmann
Joel Ortiz
Rob Reddeg
Justin Sardineer
Bryan Schwappach
Jasmine Scott
Gregory Sherven
Melissa Tinzmann
Brad Wilcko
Lindsay Williams
Cleveland ARTCC (ZOB) NATCA
Dallas-Fort Worth ATCT (DFW) NATCA
NFL Players Association

NCF – Get to know us!

The NATCA Charitable Foundation thrives on seeking out areas of need that go un-funded or are missed through typical donor drives. We seek out organizations that serve a similar purpose, to help the under-served. Across the country, one program at a time, NATCA members, friends and family all volunteer to help bring smiles to children and adults in need. Our programs vary from year to year. This link reflects a list of our most current programs. The smiles and cheers from the many we assist make any number of volunteer hours a worthy endeavor. Please contact us with any questions about current or new programs. We love to hear from our supporters as we continue to make every dollar count!

Executive Board/NCF Team

Directors:
Kimberly Beckett
Jason Boyde
Mick Devine
Steve Lewandowski
Andrea Orr

Officers:
Corrie Conrad – President
Scot Morrison – Vice President
Kristen Laubach – Secretary
Krissy Lewandowski – Treasurer

**Please email NATCA Charitable at [email protected] for any questions regarding financial information.**

In August 1994, Darrell Meachum, a Fort Worth Center controller, hoped to pool the efforts of many NATCA locals that ran charity fundraisers and bring recognition to the air traffic control profession. His wife Cathy, a dental hygienist with a background running auctions for the American Cancer Society, shared his passion.

Their solution? Form an organization that highlighted the incredible charitable work air traffic controllers were already doing and give them an avenue to expand. They called it the NATCA Charitable Foundation (NCF). Originally incorporated in Texas, the organization expanded to Florida in 2001, and to Georgia the next year. The long-term goal was to make it a nationwide entity, but in measured steps to prevent a good idea from “crumbling under its own weight due to poor implementation,” said Darrell, who also served as NATCA’s Southwest Regional Vice President from 2003-09.

That type of far-flung expansion is something some never imagined possible when he envisioned the foundation, but just six years after its creation, the foundation raised more than $17,000 at the 2000 Biennial Convention in Anchorage. As NCF President, Cathy Meachum would go on to mentor Elena Nash, who served as NCF President from 2011-2017, only recently passing the baton this year to new NCF President Corrie Conrad.

NCF quickly became a success and NATCA officially recognized Cathy’s ongoing efforts with an honorary lifetime membership. It was the first time NATCA bestowed the tribute on someone wholly outside the air traffic control profession. Cathy, who’d been an associate member for 7 years, was in shock, saying it is an honor beyond expression.

“They’re amazed at how far we’ve come and how much we’ve accomplished,” Cathy Meachum said. “They didn’t think it was feasible to get a bunch of people to do all this work by volunteers only.”

The absence of paid staff members enables NCF to donate nearly 96 percent of the money it raises. In the 1990s, a core group of about 20 volunteers ran the organization, including satellite offices in Houston, Texas, Jacksonville, Fla., and Peachtree City, Ga. In 2001, the foundation gave $43,000 to more than two-dozen charities and families across the country. NCF income has grown steadily since then — with a total of $153,575 in charitable donations by the end of 2001 to $200,000 of charitable donations in 2016 — focusing on areas that aren’t being met by other charities.

For the Meachums, giving back to their communities was always the driving force behind everything they did.

Shortly before Christmas 2000, Darrell Meachum and a colleague hefted a dilapidated table up a flight of stairs to a two-bedroom apartment in a low-income suburb northeast of Fort Worth, Texas. Cathy and their volunteer helper had driven 40 miles to retrieve the item from the donor’s outdoor porch. Its weather-beaten condition made them shake their heads in dismay. Grime covered the white Formica top and splotches of rust were corroding the metal trim and legs.

It belonged in a dump.

But the trio did their best to wipe off the dirt before setting out to deliver it to a single mother and her three young boys. They were one of several families “adopted” that holiday season by the NATCA Charitable Foundation, a tradition that continues today at many facilities across the country.

While maneuvering the table into the apartment, they noticed that the only furniture outside the bedrooms consisted of a shabby couch and a small television sitting atop a nightstand. They made three more trips to lug in a donated microwave, pots and pans, a laundry basket full of toiletries, and two armloads of holiday gifts — under the ecstatic gazes of the youngsters and their mother.

As soon as the table and four vinyl-padded chairs were positioned in front of a window near the kitchen, the boys jumped onto their newfound seats. Beaming, they set their hands on the table as if holding forks and knives.

“Look, ma, a table,” they exclaimed.

“Can we have a meal at our table?”

The mother was speechless.

Such scenes are one of the most rewarding aspects of the NATCA Charitable Foundation. Cathy Meachum said recipients “inevitably are crying because they’re so happy and we’re just beside ourselves.”

NCF has always put in a lot of effort in choosing which charities to support, hoping to make the biggest impact. A Dallas-area shelter for abused women, which regularly needs undergarments, towels, and art supplies for children, who often use creative outlets to deal with their emotional trauma was an early beneficiary of those efforts. NCF also favors helping children who are disadvantaged, disabled, and terminally ill, along with national charities such as the American Heart Association, Cystic Fibrosis Association, and Habitat for Humanity.

Visiting terminally ill children and disadvantaged people surviving on the edge of poverty can be uncomfortable, Darrell Meachum said. But, he adds, “You know that you’ve done something for the good of the community and that you’ve given something back in the name of your profession and your union.”

Cathy Meachum noted that persuading detail-oriented controllers to donate is sometimes a challenge.

“They want to know the full picture before they commit to anything,” she said. “But once they see it, they jump in full body. They are overwhelmingly generous.”

From its humble beginning, the Meachum’s legacy continues to be felt and honored today, with NCF naming it’s annual Volunteer of the Year Award after Cathy, awarded at Communicating For Safety every year.

NCF is a non profit 501(c)(3) Corporation with supporters and programs across the country. Today, it continues to be a 100 percent volunteer organization with volunteers of all ages and professions. They are proud that their operating expense ratio has remained below five percent since being established in 1998.