COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Children in foster care in Branch County and around Michigan will get some Christmas joy from above this season.
Operation Good Cheer is program of Child and Family Services of Michigan, which coordinates air flights and ground transportion for 20,313 gifts being given to 6,771 children in foster care across the state.
Through their foster care agencies, the children submitted Christmas wish lists. Those lists were then distributed to hundreds of individual and group donors who purchased and wrapped gifts specially chosen for each child.
The gifts were all collected at the Oakland County International Airport Friday, and Saturday hundreds of volunteer pilots will fly their own aircraft filled with the presents to 29 airports across Michigan, including the Branch County Memorial Airport. Local social service agencies will then transfer the gifts for final distribution to the children.
The program began in 1971. This year, more than 275 separate donor groups and individuals are participating as gift sponsors.
