“ Bahamas Habitat has received the very generous gift of a terrific Piper Aztec aircraft in excellent airworthy condition,” announced Steve Merritt, Chief Pilot and Treasurer of Bahamas Habitat. He went on to say, “This gift of an aircraft by a supporter in Minnesota reflects the gratitude that we all feel for the blessing of being involved in this mission.”
Walt and Raeanna Gislason of Willmar, Minnesota made this generous contribution in order to enable the mission to provide logistical support for disaster relief in the islands of the Bahamas and Haiti. Walt Gislason said, “After my wife, Raeanna and I read about the excellent work that Bahamas Habitat is doing, we thought we could be of assistance by donating this aircraft that would be better used in their mission work.”
Bahamas Habitat has used donated aircraft over the last two years to provide logistical support for people and supplies to support disaster relief efforts from the earthquake in Haiti in January and February of 2010, and more recently to help alleviate the suffering from the effects of Hurricane Irene in the Bahamas. When there aren’t disasters to respond to the organization uses the planes to support ongoing building projects in the Bahamas like the building of a Children’s Home on Current Island and in support of their main base camp on Eleuthera.
Attention Aircraft Owners: It Is Not Too Late—It is not too late to consider the donation of your aircraft to Bahamas Habitat to take advantage of full deductibility on 2011 tax returns. If you know of anyone who might be interested in aiding the disaster relief program of Bahamas Habitat, there are significant tax advantages to doing so.
In order to take advantage of the tax deduction, the donation must be made before January 1, 2012. Please contact Steve Merritt at 919-280-5510 or treasurer@bahamashabitat.org. He will provide you and your tax advisor with advice on how to create an extremely mutually beneficial situation based on the gift of an aircraft.
“Donating an aircraft is quick and easy and generates real money for the donor in the form of reduced taxes or refunds, so it can be a very viable solution for owners wishing to sell or dispose of their aircraft and get an immediate return.” states John Armstrong, President of Bahamas Habitat.
Bahamas Habitat is currently conducting its year-end online fund raising campaign (see: www.bahamashabitat.org.) where donors can make pledges of cash, future payments or vehicles such as aircraft. Funds benefit the operation of the mission and for the completion of the Children’s Home on Current Island.
The organization is hosting its next “Fly-In & Help Out” event February 16th – 19th, 2012. Pilots and volunteers interested in becoming involved in flying missions with Bahamas Habitat should sign up at www.bahamashabitat.org to receive the Fly-In & Help Out event information. This will put them on the mission notice email list.
