HOLLAND, Mich. — Operation Good Cheer has been making sure that children and youths in foster care in Michigan can receive Christmas gifts for over 50 years, and this year they arrived at West Michigan Regional Airport in Holland to deliver presents for children in West Michigan.
The project was formerly run by Child and Family Services of Michigan, Inc., but is now run by Child and Family Charities based in Lansing.
The project involves people buying and donating presents, which are then packaged and flown to airports across the state by a network of volunteer pilots.
Aaron Thelenwood, Director of the West Michigan Regional Airport, said the project has been flying into Holland to service West Michigan for the past several years.
"Our weather forecast was looking a little dicey, and so Operation Good Cheer, they had to come in with trucks this year," Thelenwood said.
The project makes sure gifts are delivered even when the planes cannot fly, through volunteers driving trucks to the delivery sites.
Seeing the hundreds of gifts arriving and being unloaded was also personal for Thelenwood.
"I was one of these kids that grew up getting gifts from programs similar to Operation Good Cheer," Thelenwood said. "So being able to be out here with my family, supporting the airport, but also supporting our community to ensure that these kids in this community are getting the best Christmas they can possibly have."
Hannah Konnie was at the airport as the gifts arrived representing Arbor Circle. Her organization will take the presents to distribute to the foster children it serves.
She said even though the gifts arrived in trucks this year, her and her collogues still enjoyed every moment.
"It's one of our favorite days of the year. We really enjoy coming together as a team and doing this together for our families," Konnie said. "I think that the holiday season is a time that's really difficult for a lot of our kids and our families, and so it's nice to be able to bring a little bit of joy back doing this."
Operation Good Cheer also has plans for flying into the Upper Peninsula this year.
Information about the project and ways to become involved can be found here.
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