REALTORS® on a Mission: Quad Cities Agents Support Veterans Through Honor Flights

Four times a year, Honor Flight of the Quad Cities provides veterans with the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honoring their sacrifices. 

This year, those flights will have a select few REALTOR® members on board and in the crowds sending off or welcoming back these veterans, thanks to an initiative spearheaded by Quad Cities Area REALTORS® 2025 president Craig Newcomb. 

“This is a great way to honor people who have given up so much for our freedom and our country,” Newcomb said of volunteering to be a chaperon on an Honor Flight. “My thought was, it would be so cool to give back to this program and have agents get involved.” 

Sharon Smith, CEO for QCAR, said the Association was quick to make Newcomb's idea a reality by creating a plan to get members involved.

Those interested in serving as a guardian on a flight, can enter a drawing with QCAR. If chosen, QCAR will cover the cost of flights and other expenses as the member travels to and from Washington D.C. to accompany the veterans to memorial and museum visits. 

By working with local brokers and businesses, QCAR has already obtained sponsorships to send REALTOR® members as guardians on flights in 2025. 

“In addition to that, we’re encouraging our members to go in the morning for the send off and in the evening for the welcome back,” Smith said. “That way we can get people there, be in our REALTOR® blue shirts and just honor those veterans that have gone on those flights.” 

Newcomb has seen firsthand how much these send-offs and welcome homes have meant to veterans. 

“Six or seven years ago, I was honored to chaperone three veterans on an Honor Flight,” Newcomb said. “As a retired fireman and paramedic, I knew that they needed medical staff on honor flights and I volunteered. We had a police escort in D.C. and visited the Air and Space Museum and the memorials. These guys, they went down there, looked for the guys they knew that they lost over there. It was touching.” 

Newcomb notes that the organizers of the Honor Flights reach out to the veterans’ families, asking them to write a letter that they will read during the trip. Then upon return, the families are there to greet their loved ones. 

“There’s not a dry eye in the place,” he said. 

It was an experience Newcomb will never forget, and one he hopes other REALTORS® are able to have. 

“I think that agents who participate will have more of a connection to the sacrifice these soldiers in our community have made,” Newcomb said. “And I hope that through this agents will also get to know each other better and be involved together. Agents are good people. They can become friends and respect each other and enjoy working with each other.” 

So far, the initiative is doing just that. 

“We have a lot of excitement for this, and a lot of people want to get involved,” Newcomb said. “I hope it becomes an annual thing. I feel really strongly about this.” 

Smith echoed Newcomb, noting that she believes QCAR will continue to support the Honor Flights and encourage members to participate. 

“It can be really hard to get people involved in events,” she said, adding that QCAR covers a large area and not all members are able to attend networking events. “We’re concentrating now on partnering with community events to encourage REALTOR® involvement.” 

The latest honor flight, which took place May 13 had three QCAR members on board: Matt Schwind, Tom Cox and Sara DeWulf. 

“It’s been wonderful to see our REALTOR® members stepping up to help in this fabulous endeavor,” Smith said. 

Newcomb and Smith also rallied a number of members to join the send off and welcome home at the airport. 

Newcomb encourages other boards and REALTOR® groups to consider supporting Honor Flight programs in their areas. 

“We're fortunate in our area that it's still going,” he said. “We’re happy to share this program if anyone wants to do something similar.”