Las Vegas Sun
Alex Volker, right, a Las Vegas commercial pilot, speaks to a crowd of about 350 people at the 8th Annual Las Vegas Philanthropy Leaders Summit on Friday Feb. 8, 2019, at Las Vegas City Hall. Volker flew his father, Dr. K. Warren Volker, center, and a team of other medical professionals to Puerto Rico on a relief mission after Hurricane Maria, then worked to support the team as it went about its work. At left is the event’s master of ceremonies, Punam Mathur.
Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 | 11:39 a.m.
When Las Vegas commercial pilot Alex Volker agreed to fly his father and a group of medical professionals to Puerto Rico in the direct aftermath of Hurricane Maria, he made his dad proud.
That feeling would only grow as Volker’s father, Dr. K. Warren Volker, watched what happened after the team touched down on the hurricane-ravaged island.
Speaking this morning at the 8th Annual Philanthropy Leaders Summit at Las Vegas City Hall, Warren Volker described how his son transformed from pilot to a member of the team to help meet the overwhelming need created by the deadly storm.
“He didn’t realize he was actually going to be doing medical work,” he said. “He thought he was just going to be flying and staying in a nice hotel, like he usually does.”
Instead, Alex Volker and his co-pilot immediately began supporting the health professionals, starting when they organized a pile of donated pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies into a makeshift pharmacy.
With that in place, they joined the team in welcoming victims into clinics and going into communities to help others in their homes.
“We had a couple of large backpacks, so we loaded them and became kind of a walking pharmacy,” Alex Volker said.
His father described the help as invaluable.
“We worked day and night. We set up clinics, and we went all over the municipalities,” he said. “We were dealing with a lot of infections; things I’d never seen before.”
“For me it was an inspiration to see Alex. We took care of really sick people,” he said.
Similar projects are on the horizon for the Volker family, with Warren Volker planning a relief trip to Honduras.
The Volkers were among several speakers at the event, which drew about 350 people. As with other presenters, they offered a message of encouragement for those providing community support.
“We all have that voice in our head that you could do something, you should do something. Just act on that,” Warren Volker said. “All of us have it in our nature to give. The resilience you see from people you’re helping is uplifting. It gives you a new rebirth every time. Every time.”
Also at the event:
• Jeremy Aguero from Applied Analysis presented takeaways from an annual Las Vegas philanthropy survey and report. Among them, survey respondents identified homelessness and education as the community’s two greatest areas of need. In each case, 38 percent of respondents identified the problem as the community’s most serious.
• The $10,000 Eric M. Hilton Health Care Collaboration grand prize was awarded to the Grant a Gift Autism Foundation, headed by President and CEO Terri Janison.
• RJ Khalaf, founder of an aid organization that works with youths in the New Askar Refugee Camp in Palestine, and Liberty Perez, a Bishop Gorman High School sophomore who volunteers for Safe From the Streets, described what prompted them to become involved in philanthropy and community service.
In both cases, their parents introduced them to giving at a young age and continued to encourage them to be involved.
“In our family, we are proud practicing Muslims,” Khalaf said. “There are five pillars to our faith, one of which is charity. So for us, an act of faith — and an act of worship — is charity.”
• Nick Bailey, vice president of innovation and products for SalesForce.org, outlined the company’s philanthropic efforts, which yielded massive growth in donations and volunteer hours by company employees.
