Greatest Need: Wherever, Whenever it is Needed Most
Read more stories from our 2024 Impact Report.
In 2024, thanks to your support we intentionally built our reserve of “Greatest Need” funds, raising $1,217,209. This allows us to respond to urgent and emergent needs from LifeFlight of Maine, which is especially important given the increasing complexity and financial reality of our work, as well as our commitment to continuous improvement.
LifeFlight is the connection point in Maine’s increasingly fragile and fragmented healthcare system. Just as LifeFlight answers the calls for help from patients in need, The LifeFlight Foundation strives to be able to support this complex and capital-intensive operation when called upon.
Each year we aim to raise $1,000,000 in “Greatest Need” funds, which provide LifeFlight with the flexibility to respond quickly and effectively in a fast-paced environment. Last year, some of those needs included urgent medical equipment upgrades, advancements in aviation and infrastructure equipment, and new safety and survival gear for our crew.
LifeFlight purchased a new backup power generator for its Sanford hangar. A LifeFlight team is based there 24/7, along with the aircraft, gear, and medical supplies — some of which must be kept in secure and temperature-controlled storage within the hangar. The backup power source will help ensure the safety and readiness of our Sanford team, the aircraft, and their equipment at all times.
With donor support, LifeFlight was able to purchase GPS repeaters for its hangars in Lewiston and Sanford. These devices allow an aircraft’s avionics systems to connect to satellites from within the hangar (the metal walls and roof of the hangar impede a strong GPS signal). With the connection established while the aircraft remains indoors, LifeFlight’s team of aviation maintenance technicians can perform updates and inspections without the time-consuming process of moving an aircraft that is undergoing maintenance in and out of the hangar.
LifeFlight also used money from its “Greatest Need” fund to purchase an emergency notification system called Everbridge. Technology across sectors continues to advance rapidly, and emergency response is no exception. Everbridge’s technology allows LifeFlight’s leadership team to communicate securely with the entire staff and crew across devices and platforms. The communication helps improve coordination, operational safety, and incident response.
LifeFlight of Maine is more than just helicopters. It is a critical safety net for all of us — our friends, family, neighbors, and fellow Mainers. Just as LifeFlight of Maine depends on our partners across the state to help get patients swiftly and safely to the care they need, every year we depend on a large community of donors to help us build and maintain this vitally important reserve at the Foundation.
“At the end of the day, this is LifeFlight of Maine, for Maine, from Maine, and across Maine. It takes all of us in Maine coming together to make this work.”
Kate O’Halloran, Executive Director, The LifeFlight Foundation
Community Giving Program
Since 2006, 280 communities have made donations to LifeFlight totaling more than $1,000,000. In 2024, 13 new communities supported LifeFlight. This includes the Town of Wells.
“Wells Fire Department is a supporting group of highly skilled and trained firefighters, EMTs and medics that work readily and quickly with all LifeFlight responses, and we encourage other communities to keep LifeFlight as a viable option in the region,” said the town’s Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Mark Dupuis.
Every year, LifeFlight asks each community to make a suggested donation based on population — $1 per capita for towns of up to 1,000 residents,
$0.50 per capita for those with up to 2,000 residents, and $0.25 per capita rate for larger communities, with requests typically capped at $2,000. The goal is for all communities to work together so LifeFlight can continue to care for Maine’s most critically ill and injured across the state.
