NON-PROFIT SPOTLIGHT
Missionary Flights International’s fleet of DC-3s are perfectly suited for the organization’s mission of “standing in the gap.” Through transportation, supplies,
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FLYING FOR
THOSE IN NEED
Fort Pierce-based Missionary Flights
International provides a unique relief
MISSIONARY FLIGHTS INTERNATIONAL
mail, even livestock, MFI fills a need for missionaries serving primarily in the Caribbean.
service in neighboring countries
BY ELLEN GILLETTE
An airborne missionary unit connects Florida with
the Caribbean, ministering and bringing lifesaving
provisions to people in poverty-stricken
areas. Missionary Flights International is one of
32 businesses operating out of Treasure Coast International
Airport and Business Park, off St. Lucie Boulevard
in northern St. Lucie County.
MFI has been serving missionaries and mission organizations
in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas
for more than 50 years.
Twice a week at around 6 a.m., one of the company’s
DC-3 airplanes flies to Haiti, loaded to capacity with
mail, supplies and passengers, returning later that day.
Some days the cargo may be live animals, such as young
goats for the “Give a Kid to a Kid” program that teaches
children how to raise and care for animals. There might be
building material or food. The organization partners with
nearly 500 other groups that depend on them for timely,
dependable service.
Joe Karabensh leads operations at MFI, located at 3170
Airman’s Drive in Fort Pierce. A former flight instructor
in Massachusetts, Karabensh joined MFI in 1996 as a pilot
and mechanic, later managing the warehouse. Moving up
to executive assistant, he became president in 2015.
MFI started in 1964 and had been located in West Palm
Beach. Extensive airport renovations in 2000 split operations.
The MFI headquarters moved to Lake Worth while
the planes stayed on the tarmac.
“We looked at staying in West Palm, working with the
airport to find available land. We never planned on getting
a hangar,” says Karabensh. “They wanted us to move
either to the north county or out in the middle of nowhere. >>