Meet Don Raad: Strong for His Community
by Donna TunneyA rare combination of philanthropy, business acumen and community spirit has proven to be a recipe for success for travel agency owner Don Raad.
Raad owns Hicksville, N.Y.-based MSW Travel Group and is a friend to several nonprofits that assist disabled and ill children and adults.
“We handle the travel for the Marty Lyons Foundation, which is similar to the Make a Wish Foundation. But Marty – a former football player for the New York Jets – takes children who Make a Wish wouldn’t take.”
Travel for children
“Most of these terminally ill kids have special travel needs to get to their wish destination, such as oxygen in their rooms or special beds, for instance. We facilitate that when we arrange for their travel,” says Raad, whose agency is a member of TRAVELSAVERS.
 |
“We’re sorry to say there are many children who don’t make it to their ‘wish’ trip. When that happens we cancel those plans and use the funds for the next child,” he says.
It started 20 years ago
Raad’s foray into assisting nonprofits started some 20 years ago when he met Mitch Shapiro, who was involved with Foundation Fighting Blindness.
“We were invited to volunteer for the foundation and I ended up becoming the co-chairman for one of its fundraising events. It was a competition involving pulling a corporate jet down a tarmac.
“Now Mitch has started a new organization, Foundation for Sight and Sound, in Smithtown, N.Y., and we book the travel for that group. We also donate money that the foundation uses to buy hearing aids for people who can’t afford them.
“I’ll do fundraising events, too. For example, at a golf outing fundraiser I’ll try to entice other people to join the bandwagon. I’ll get up and say, ‘Put MSW Travel on the list’ for a donation, and then other companies will step up,” Raad says.
Sharing agency earnings
MSW Travel Group also donates a portion of the commissions it earns from suppliers.
“Sometimes nonprofits will call me and ask for assistance or donations and I’ll tell them, ‘Let us handle your travel and you’ll get a check from us every month.’ Those are the commissions we will hand back to them,” Raad says.
His firm recently began working with PALS (Patient AirLift Services), in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Getting them there
“I was volunteering at a trade show for Marty Lyons when I met the folks from PALS. They coordinate free air transportation to anyone who needs it for a medical or humanitarian reason. They do it with the help of commercial pilots.
“Someone may call up and say, ‘My child’s in need of an operation and we live in Buffalo, but we have to go to a (specialized) hospital in Cincinnati.’ Or, some sick person may have to be in a stretcher for a flight to medical treatment.
“PALS coordinates with pilots who have their own small jets, and these pilots transport the person and their families, or whoever needs to travel with the patient. They donate their time, the use of their plane, the fuel, etc.,” explains Raad.
MSW Travel agency assists by doing things like securing hotel space for the family, with Raad sometimes paying for one night and the hotel donating another night.
Making a living
Raad, a married father of two, says he couldn’t do all of this work for charity if his agency, which books business and leisure travel, didn’t have lots of other clients.
“If I worked strictly with these groups I’d go out of business. I have to make money. I have seven staff working with me and 61 independent contractors.
“I have to think of profit and loss. But what we do is very rewarding. We choose to do business with these groups because it’s being strong for the community.”
Loves what he does
Raad became one of three partners in MSW Travel Group in 1998 and sole owner in 2006. His agency is a member of TWIN (The Worldwide Independent Network), a TRAVELSAVERS sister company that develops networks and relationships with agents in other countries.
He got started in the industry in the reservations departments of Avis Rent a Car and American Airlines.
He says he loves what he does.
“It’s fascinating to me that so many people will get up every day and go to work and do the same thing and hate it. Life is not a commodity that you can trade off. I wouldn’t want to do what I don’t appreciate doing.”
