A silent auction at the NBAA convention last month raised $168,000 for a program that those opposed to corporate aviation should know more about.

The auction’s proceeds went to the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), a group that arranges for free transportation on business aircraft for cancer patients. CAN, in service for 27 years, has provided more than 20,000 free trips, which translates to more than 2,500 flights a year.

Top corporations offer seats on their aircraft to cancer patients, bone marrow donors and recipients who are ambulatory and not in need of medical support while traveling. Five full-time employees and 50 part-time volunteers work with patients, physicians, corporations, flight departments, and treatment centers to match the travel needs of patients to empty seats on business flights.

More than 500 of America’s top corporations participate on this cause, which is designed to ease the emotional stress, financial burden, and physical discomfort of travel for cancer patients. One corporate jet not participating is Air Force One.

Charles Spence is GAN’s Washington, D.C., correspondent.