On Sunday Dec. 14, the Colorado Aviation Business Association (CABA) and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9644 will hold the 15th Annual Ron Davies Memorial VFW Air Lift, carrying thousands of pounds of food and toys to veterans and military families across Colorado.
This year’s airlift honors the memory of Ron Davies, who together with his daughter – NBAA Regional Director Brittany Davies and former CABA Chair Mike Straka – launched the airlift project in 2011.
“This year, the 15th year, is a huge milestone for the VFW Airlift,” said VFW Post 9644 Commander Todd Van Sant. “Ron served as a state commander and with his passing earlier this year, there’s no better time to raise awareness of this program and acknowledge his and his family’s dedication to the airlift.”
This is also the first year the airlift is a state-sponsored event, Van Sant said, with funds in the state of Colorado’s budget to help support the program.
“The airlift allows us to help veterans through general aviation. It’s a privilege to help our veterans and military families within our communities.”
Alexandra Guras CABA Chair and Board President
Meals and Toys for Vets and Their Families
The airlift’s aim is to ensure veterans have a warm meal and toys for their children during the holidays. Volunteer pilots will fly to 11 airports, ensuring over a dozen VFW posts receive donated food and toys.
“The airlift allows us to help veterans through general aviation,” said Alexandra Guras, CABA chairwoman and president of the board. “It’s a privilege to help our veterans and military families within our communities.”
The airlift is truly a statewide effort: the supplies will be flown to airports across Colorado, from the Front Range to the Western Slope, where local VFW posts and auxiliaries meet the airplanes, help unload and take the food back to their communities. Some posts serve a meal to the pilots when they land, while others rally their members to organize, package and deliver the food and toys directly to veterans and families they’ve identified as needing a helping hand over the holidays. Most posts supplement the delivered food and toys with food drives of their own.
“The airlift has grown steadily, with a brief decline during COVID but now transporting up to 15,000 pounds of food and toys and around 30 pilots and aircraft.”
Mike Straka Former CABA Chair and Airlift Co-Founder
Organizers expect to deliver between 12,000 and 15,000 pounds of cargo this year with up to 150 volunteers assisting.
“The first year, we delivered around 1,500 pounds of food with fewer than 10 pilots,” said Straka. “The airlift has grown steadily, with a brief decline during COVID but now transporting up to 15,000 pounds of food and toys and around 30 pilots and aircraft.”
In the previous 14 years, the airlift has delivered more than 100,000 pounds of food and toys and reached over 11,000 people.
Straka said volunteer-flown aircraft are predominantly Cessna 172s and 182s, with some Cherokees, Arrows, Mooneys and lately, Cirrus aircraft. This year, a King Air 200 will fly to Grand Junction, CO, to meet some of the greatest need. In previous years, volunteers flew a Pilatus PC-12, Cessna Conquest II and TBM 700.
The airlift provides an opportunity for volunteer pilots of smaller aircraft to serve their communities.
“In a disaster, when you need supplies to one or two staging airports, then you need to be more efficient with larger aircraft, but if you’re distributing to a number of VFW posts, it makes more sense to use smaller aircraft,” Straka explained.
Overcoming Potential Weather Challenges
Colorado’s early winter weather presents the event’s biggest challenge, with sunny days and highs in the 60s quickly turning into snow squalls and icing conditions.
Signature Aviation at Centennial Airport (APA) is a longtime supporter of the airlift, providing space to stage aircraft and cargo. That support is even more important when inclement weather turns a one-day airlift of multiple aircraft into a several days event as individual aircraft depart to take advantage of the best weather enroute and at their destinations.
Despite weather challenges and managing logistics of thousands of pounds of food and toys and dozens of volunteers, organizers of the airlift are dedicated to ensuring its longevity in Colorado and sharing a template for this type of program with other states.
“We do the airlift for two reasons: First, to support veterans and their families who are having hard times and need food and toys for the holiday season,” said Straka. “And second, many volunteers, including pilots, are veterans and we can showcase what general aviation can do for the community, not just in times of emergencies but for humanitarian purposes and community building events.”
The event receives regional media attention, with even more focus this year thanks to a commercial paid for by event sponsor Tallgrass Energy. In previous years, most cash donations, up to $30,000, came from VFW posts – veterans helping veterans, Van Sant explained. This year, Tallgrass Energy contributed $30,000 to expand the program’s reach.
Holiday Help, Veteran Focus Were Born From Tragedy
NBAA Regional Director Brittany Davies and her father Ron Davies joined their local VFW post in the aftermath of 1999’s mass shooting at Columbine High School, where Brittany Davies was a student at the time. Both father and daughter found strength and healing through a community that understood their experiences.
Post-traumatic stress can take many forms, and for them, joining the VFW was a way to confront that impact with others who truly understood.
Years later, that shared foundation inspired the creation of the annual airlift combining both their love of aviation and their dedication to veterans. When Brittany Davies chaired CABA and her father as VFW state commander, the flight team at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Brittany Davies’ alma mater, joined the effort, helping the airlift grow its reach and impact across Colorado.
“Across business aviation, and especially at NBAA, we’re working to normalize conversations around mental health and ensure people can ask for help without fear or stigma,” said Brittany Davies, who now serves as an NBAA regional director overseeing Colorado and other states. “Through initiatives like NBAA’s Military Connect program, we’re also creating clearer pathways for veterans to transition into meaningful aviation careers. The VFW and the airlift project reinforce the importance of these efforts – supporting the wellbeing of our veterans, our families and our entire aviation community.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.