A Nashville-area nonprofit just notched a milestone that most volunteer pilots only dream about: 200 rescue flights. On Oct. 14, Race for Life Rescue completed that 200th mission, flying 112 animals out of overcrowded Louisiana shelters to shelters in the Northeast.
The group, founded in 2021 by Jim and Pam DeFrancesco, has now flown more than 12,000 animals and worked with shelters in more than 30 states, according to Morningstar, which ran the organization’s press release marking the anniversary. Jim DeFrancesco serves as the nonprofit’s founder and chief pilot, flying the missions himself out of the group’s home base in the Greater Nashville area.
The workhorse behind those 200 flights is a 1999 Beechcraft 1900D, a 19-passenger commuter plane that’s been converted to carry more than 100 crated animals in a climate-controlled cabin, per the release. The aircraft can cover about 1,000 nautical miles in under five hours, turning what would otherwise be a 20-to-25-hour drive by road into a same-day trip for dogs and cats who might not survive the wait in an overcrowded shelter.
Screened Before Boarding, Escorted the Whole Way
Every animal that boards the plane has already been screened by the sending shelter, and a partner representative flies along on every mission, the release notes. Shelters themselves pay nothing for the flights — Race for Life Rescue covers those costs through donors, foundations and partners, including the BISSELL Pet Foundation and the ASPCA, according to an earlier PR Newswire release marking the organization’s 10,000th animal saved…